New York Republicans won’t return Paladino cash after his outrageous ‘Hitler’ praise

A politician who voiced admiration for Hitler has given thousands of dollars to Republican members of New York State’s congressional delegation — but they appear to have no intention of giving back the campaign cash.

In a recently surfaced interview from last year, Carl Paladino stunningly praised infamous Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler as “the kind of leader we need today.”

Paladino, who’s running for Congress in western New York, came under strong condemnation for the remarks, and he said last week his statement was “a serious mistake.”

FILE - Carl Paladino speaks to members of the media at Trump Tower in New York, Dec. 5, 2016. (Andrew Harnik/)

Prior to the uproar, Paladino, a supporter of former President Donald Trump with a history of making outrageous statements, gave considerable contributions to Republican lawmakers.

Those include Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, who reps Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. He gave her $2,800 in 2020 and $1,000 the year before, according to campaign finance records.

“The donations in question were from the 2020 campaign. That money was spent then, and the books have been closed on that campaign,” Malliotakis campaign spokesman Rob Ryan said in an email when asked whether she would return the funds.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) (Susan Walsh/)

However, a candidate can always cut a check to a prior contributor in the amount of an old contribution, an expert at the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center told the Daily News. Malliotakis’ campaign had about $2.3 million in cash on hand as of March 31, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Asked about Paladino’s “Hitler” remarks, Ryan said, “His comments were very wrong.”

Upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, has received $3,600 from Paladino since 2014, records show. She’s been supporting his run for Congress.

Stefanik’s campaign didn’t answer a question asking whether she would return the funds.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) attends a press briefing following a House Republican conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on June 29, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/)

Asked for comment about the “Hitler” quote, a spokesman provided an indirect answer.

“Congresswoman Stefanik has one of the strongest records in the U.S. Congress condemning anti-Semitism,” he said, noting she previously pushed for Holocaust education legislation.

The campaign for one of the biggest recipients of Paladino’s largesse, Rep. Claudia Tenney, did not answer a request for comment. She’s gotten $25,700 from Paladino since 2014.

The campaign for Long Island Rep. Lee Zeldin, who’s received $6,923 from Paladino since 2014, didn’t reply, either. (Like Stefanik and Tenney, 2014 is when he first ran for Congress.) Zeldin is now running for governor.

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on May 22, 2018. (Jacquelyn Martin/)

In an audio clip revealed Thursday by Media Matters for America, a left-leaning watchdog group, Paladino was heard praising Hitler for “how he aroused the crowds.”

“[H]e would get up there screaming these epithets and these people were just — they were hypnotized by him,” Paladino said in February 2021 on a Buffalo radio show. “That’s, I guess — I guess that’s the kind of leader we need today. We need somebody inspirational. We need somebody that is a doer, has been there and done it, so that it’s not a strange new world to him.

On Friday, Paladino stated, “I understand that invoking Hitler in any context is a serious mistake and rightfully upsets people,” though he insisted his original comments had been misinterpreted.

“Any implication that I support Hitler ... is a new low for the media,” he said.

Matt Nosanchuk, president of the nonpartisan advocacy group New York Jewish Agenda, voiced disgust over the contributions.

“Politicians should not be accepting support from somebody who extols Adolf Hitler and says we need someone with Hitler’s demagogic tendencies,” he said.

“If they can go to sleep comfortably at night knowing that their campaign is being funded by someone who says we need another Hitler, I think they have some self-reflection that they need to do,” Nosanchuk added.

Carl Paladino in 2010. (Mario Tama/)

Paladino has a long history of making bigoted remarks.

He wished death upon former President Barack Obama and said former First Lady Michelle Obama should “return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla” in 2016.

During an anti-LGBTQ tirade in 2010, Paladino said kids shouldn’t be “brainwashed” into thinking homosexuality is OK.

More recently, he shared a Facebook post suggesting last month’s gun massacres in his hometown of Buffalo and in Uvalde, Texas, were staged.

Malliotakis’ ties to Paladino go back years. She endorsed him for his unsuccessful 2010 gubernatorial run and headlined a Buffalo gala honoring him last October, though he later called her a “traitor” to the GOP for voting for last year’s Democratic infrastructure bill.

Max Rose, who’s challenging Malliotakis for his old congressional seat, called his opponent’s association with Paladino “disturbing.”

“Nicole should immediately denounce Carl Paladino’s comments and return his money,” Rose said.