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NY Democrats file complaint over Blakeman-Trump event with Nassau County police
By
Jimmy Vielkind
Published Aug 28, 2026
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Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images
By
Jimmy Vielkind
Published Aug 28, 2026
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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s recent appearance with President Donald Trump at his county’s police academy — with uniformed cadets and officers sitting behind them — amounted to an improper partisan political rally, Democrats allege in a formal complaint expected to be filed Friday with the state Board of Elections.
The Aug. 14 event featured Republican candidates for Congress from around the state. Several spoke from the rostrum, denouncing Democratic officeholders. Blakeman, who is also running for governor, attacked state policies and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul during his speech.
Trump took the stage and praised his host after discussing new crime figures.
“We have to get Bruce into office,” Trump said before mentioning Blakeman’s Democratic opponent. “Nowhere is the communist attack on American society more clear than in New York state. The radical-left Gov. Kathy Hochul has been very, very bad on crime.”
The rhetoric and choice of speakers effectively made the event a partisan political rally, New York State Democratic Committee Chair Jay Jacobs said. He said Blakeman improperly used the resources of his public office to benefit his campaign by holding the event in a county-owned facility secured in part by county police.
“Candidate Bruce Blakeman, while accepting public finance dollars to mount a campaign, has exploited the governmental office of Nassau County executive to deploy county funds, facilities and personnel, all in furtherance of his own statewide candidacy,” Jacobs wrote in the complaint, which was reviewed by Gothamist.
Republican candidate for governor Bruce Blakeman and President Trump held a rally in Nassau County on Aug. 14.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
State law prohibits the use of public resources for campaign activity. Incumbent officials, including both Hochul and Blakeman, often use their official bully pulpits to make points that are later echoed in campaign advertisements and speeches.
In a statement, Blakeman described the Democrats’ complaint as a “Hail Mary.”
“Of course Kathy Hochul would criticize the president for coming to tour our outstanding law enforcement facilities and honor law enforcement professionals,” he said.
Jacobs said it was far more than a tour.
“This was a campaign rally. It looked like a campaign rally. It smelled like a campaign rally. It is a campaign rally. And that's okay, but then a campaign should pay for it,” he said.
The Washington, D.C.-based watchdog Public Citizen filed a federal complaint against U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche for speaking at the event. Public Citizen said Blanche effectively endorsed Blakeman when the attorney general described the candidate as “great” in a speech.
A Department of Justice spokesperson said the complaint was baseless and politically motivated.
The White House billed the gathering as an official event to announce crime statistics. The president subsequently described the event on social media as “a Rally in Nassau County in honor of Bruce Blakeman, who is running for Governor of New York.”
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said that “extreme liberal Democrats” were deflecting attention from “soft on crime policies.”
“President Trump promised to stand with our law enforcement officers and to deliver safer American neighborhoods,” Bis said.
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Jimmy Vielkind
Jimmy Vielkind covers how state government and politics affect people throughout New York. He has covered Albany since 2008, most recently as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Jimmy led a team of reporters that won a New York Press Club award for coverage of Andrew Cuomo’s downfall and was on a team that won a Gerald Loeb Award for coverage of Amazon’s HQ2 process. A native of the Capitol Region, Jimmy has two degrees in urban planning. His position is funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Reach Jimmy at [email protected].
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