A video of central New York Rep. Brandon Williams (R-Sennett) berating a former staffer at a Washington D.C. party last week has made local and national media news.
The 24-second video shows Williams in a heated exchange with his former chief of staff Michael Gordon. It was filmed by another former Williams staffer, and it quickly got into media hands. Williams’ response so far has been a posting on X (formerly Twitter), calling the video edited and saying Williams’ action was a response to rude comments about the female members of the Congressman’s family.
BREAKING EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: @Brandon4ny22 shouts at and threatens his former campaign manager and chief of staff at a holiday charity event in DC. @CitrusTVNews 🚨@RepWilliams: “You F*CK with my family, I’ll end every relationship that you have!” #NY22 pic.twitter.com/VV6SYWevNp
— Luke Radel (@lukeradel) December 1, 2023
Whether this has legs simply depends on voters perception of Williams over time, according to Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute and a political science professor at Syracuse University.
"I think one instance of behavior like this is not going to be terribly damaging, but if there's a string of this kind of behavior, it becomes a pattern, said Reeher. “Then people will associate ‘Brandon Williams is, you know, fill in the blank, angry, quick to react, you know, irritable,’ those kinds of things and so that's what he needs to avoid."
Reeher said a stronger response in addition to a statement might be warranted.
“I think to come forward and explain this, rather than issuing a very brief statement through his staff,” he said. “And I think that something like this merits him actually taking questions from reporters and explaining the situation.”
Three Democrats looking to take on Williams next year have quickly reacted to the video, calling it among other things, embarrassing, an abuse of power and deeply odious. Reeher said Democrats using the clip is not surprising.
"It's out there. It got recorded. It got made public. The opposition is going to use it. This is opposition research 101. Get your opponent on camera doing something that doesn't reflect well on them and then use that as a way to raise money and also use it as a way,” he said.
