October Surprise #95977: Republican Congressman In Tight Re-Election Race Wore Blackface For 2006 Halloween Costume
The October surprises keep coming, and we’re only three days in. Via New York Times:
Representative Mike Lawler of New York wore blackface as part of a Halloween costume when he was a college student almost two decades ago, according to photographs recently obtained by The New York Times.
The images, taken around October 2006, show a 20-year-old Mr. Lawler at a campus social gathering dressed as Michael Jackson. He is wearing a black shirt and a red jacket and, in one photo, is striking a signature Jackson dance pose. His face has also been visibly darkened.
[NYT]
It’s almost kind of funny that this could be what ruins Lawler, considering Michael Jackson was basically a white woman in 2006. There’s more at the link, including a crazy detail that Lawler was such a huge fan of Jackson, he flew to California in 2005 and was able to get inside the courtroom where Jackson was on trial for child molestation.
