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Dueling protests converge in front of Stefanik’s office

GLENS FALLS – Demonstrators in front of the Glen Street office of U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, chanted “Hey Stefanik – Dump Trump!”

Meanwhile on the opposite side of Glen Street, Devin Pratt, holding a sign reading “The Silent Majority Supports Trump,” said Stefanik should continue to support the Republican presidential nominee.

“I think she should stand her ground and for what she believes in,” he said.

The 5 p.m. rally that MoveOn.org organized drew a larger press corps than actual demonstrators.

There were 10 reporters, photographers and videographers, six anti-Trump demonstrators and three pro-Trump counter demonstrators.

The Trump supporters included the driver of a black pickup truck with a U.S. flag and a Trump campaign sign in the back. The truck circled the roundabout over and over.

Several of the Trump opponents held signs promoting Stefanik’s Democratic opponent, Mike Derrick, who issued a news release Thursday reiterating his call for Stefanik to relinquish her support of Trump, in light of reports in The New York Times and Palm Beach Post of women who said Trump had sexually assaulted them.

Trump, at a campaign rally in Florida on Friday, denied the allegations.

A Stefanik campaign spokesman on Thursday said Stefanik would not comment on the topic beyond a statement she posted Oct. 7 on her campaign Facebook page.

“Donald Trump’s inappropriate offensive comments are just wrong – no matter when he said them or whatever the context,” she said in the statement. “I hope his apology is sincere.”

Stefanik posted the statement after a 2005 video was released in which Trump bragged in crude terms about being able “to do anything to women” because he is a celebrity.

Joe Seeman, a MoveOn.org organizer, said the latest allegations about actual abuse make it more critical that Stefanik renounce her support for Trump.

“We are calling on Stefanik to put common decency before party loyalty,” he said.

Stefanik and Derrick, a retired Army colonel from Peru, in Clinton County, and Green Party Matt Funiciello, a bread company owner and political activist from Hudson Falls, are running in the 21st Congressional District.

Pratt, the Trump supporter, said both Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton have character flaws that are distracting from policy issues in the election.

“Both sides have some personal issues just like everyone else in the world. They’re being exploited,” he said.

Seeman said Trump’s policy issues are wrong too.

“When he wants to cut taxes for the rich and put more money in the pockets of billionaires, that’s the same lack of ethics, of caring for people,” he said.

Pratt said he will vote for Stefanik, regardless of whether she continues to support Trump or not.

“That’s her right (to support Trump or not),” he said. “I believe in her stances for the 21st District. I appreciate the work that she has done.”

(Editor’s note: Four daily newspapers in the North Country – the Enterprise, Post-Star of Glens Falls, Watertown Daily Times and Press-Republican of Plattsburgh – are sharing content to better cover New York’s 21st Congressional District.)

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