Liberal Media Sunday Shows Paid No Heed to Attack on Rep. Zeldin

In this image taken from video, David Jakubonis (L) is subdued as he brandishes a sharp object during an attack on Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) as the Republican candidate for New York governor delivers a speech in Perinton, N.Y., on July 21, 2022. WHEC-TV via AP

The July 21 attack against Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) failed to catch the attention of liberal Sunday morning shows, Fox News reported.

The suspect, David Jakubonis, 43, reportedly swung the object described as “a keychain with two sharp points,” at the neck of the Republican nominee for governor when he was giving a speech during a campaign stop at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Fairport, New York, near Rochester.

Jakubonis was knocked to the ground and taken into custody right afterward. Zeldin wasn’t injured.

The assailant was released on his own recognizance immediately after and was re-arrested on a federal assault charge on July 23 before appearing in front of Magistrate Judge Marian Payson.

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, Zeldin’s opponent in the November gubernatorial contest condemned the violent behavior “in the strongest terms possible” and stated that, “it has no place in New York.”

The assault was also criticized by President Joe Biden.

Following the suspect’s initial release, the lawmaker criticized the state’s changes to its bail reform laws that Republicans and some law enforcement groups say have driven up crime.

Double Standard Reporting

The incident was addressed on Fox News’ Sunday show while other liberal news outlets mostly ignored it.

The news outlets, including ABC, NBC, and CNN, which typically recap the biggest political headlines of the past week on Sundays, mostly featured Jan. 6 hearing developments and/or Biden’s COVID diagnosis.

Zeldin also ripped the left-wing media for their meager attention to the violence.

“If the fact pattern flips on its head and ... resulted in the victim being on the left side of the aisle, being Democrats, you would then see a completely different story,” the congress said in comments to the Saturday “Fox and Friends” program.

“It would be the number one story and it wouldn’t just be the number one story for a day. It would be the number one story for an entire cycle,” Zeldin said.

“And they would actually also be calling every House Republican asking for us to comment and condemn what happened, demanding it … with protests in front of our office,” he added.