We can officially dub Representative Peter King from New York as a RINO.
In the past, he’s had no issue voting with Democrats in the past on legislation such as assault weapons bans.
This one may take the cake, however.
King has officially announced his plans to vote for Pelosi’s ridiculous $3 trillion stimulus bill.
Details were first reported from The Hill on King’s decision:
Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said he plans to buck party lines and vote in favor of the $3 trillion coronavirus relief package proposed by House Democrats and slated to come to the floor on Friday.
King — who represents one of the hardest-hit districts in the state and is set to retire at the end of this term — said while there are provisions that give him pause, he feels it’s critical that Congress provide funding for state and local governments that have been disproportionately affected by the deadly virus. The New York Republican also said the language to eliminate the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction for 2020 and 2021 factored into his decision to back the measure.
“In some ways it’s a tough decision and in some ways it’s an easy decision,” King told The Hill.
“Look, I disagree with a lot of things that are in that bill: some of the provisions involving illegal immigrants, some of the absentee ballots, the mail, all that stuff. But the fact is, to me, [Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell (R-Ky.) sort of laid it down…he’s talking about no federal aid to state and local governments. New York is going to die, my county, Nassau County, [and] Suffolk County is also in my district; not only are they running up tremendous cost, their revenue losses are unbelievable.”
New York is the state hardest hit by coronavirus, with around 340,000 confirmed cases and more than 20,000 deaths.
Funding for state and local governments has emerged as a key issue for the next round of coronavirus legislation, with governors arguing they need federal help as the pandemic forces them to increase spending on services while taking a heavy hit to revenue. Some Republicans have countered that such funding would amount to “blue state bailouts.”
King said he believes the pandemic should be treated as a natural disaster, calling for adequate funding to be provided to the areas that have seen the highest number of cases.
“If we don’t get [money] at the state level, county level, city levels…if we don’t get the federal funding, which we give whenever there’s a natural disaster — we gave it after [Hurricane] Katrina, the only time we had to fight for it was during [Hurricane] Sandy — but this is a natural disaster, and the money has to come in,” he said.
It’s not completely surprising King’s chosen to defect from the Republican Party. Last month, he condemned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the following tweet:
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