The county exec's Sunday standup shtick

Daily Point

Bruce does the 'Donald' at GOP fundraiser

Nobody reported seeing a carefully crafted comb-over blond hairdo, or a long red tie. But most people in the room reportedly understood what Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman was up to on Sunday when he addressed a Republican audience of 600 to 800 at the Long Island Marriott in Uniondale for the county GOP’s annual campaign kickoff, attendees told The Point.

Blakeman said coyly that he’d spoken the other day to someone everyone knew — but whose name he did not mention. Blakeman began “quoting” that person as hailing the Nassau Republicans for having “painted Nassau a beautiful, bright red” in the last election.

Soon it became clear that Blakeman was channeling former President Donald Trump — who after winning the Iowa caucuses may top the same ticket on which many candidates in the room look to run in November.

“Bruce does imitations in private,” a close aide explained to The Point. “This was one of his first in public.”

Reviews of Blakeman’s stand-up sounded mixed. “I don’t know if they were laughing at him or with him; it took me about 20 seconds to figure out what he was doing,” said a longtime Nassau Republican who attended the fundraising event and requested anonymity.

Comic styles aside, most of the adulation in the room was directed at county Legis. Mazi Melesa Pilip, the party’s nominee for the 3rd Congressional District to succeed ousted Republican Rep. George Santos. She is opposing Democratic ex-Rep. Tom Suozzi on Feb. 13 in a special election. Ex-Rep. Peter King once again pointed out and loudly denounced Suozzi’s campaign ad featuring the two lawmakers together. King again emphasized that he’s backing Pilip in the race.

The price of seeing this annual kickoff ranged from $175 for admission to $10,000 for the prestige of being an “event sponsor.”

Blakeman, who’s now in his third year as county executive, has clearly had Trump on his mind in recent weeks. On Jan. 3, he slammed a sports radio host for criticizing the former president as having a negative impact on the national discourse.

The buzz has been that Blakeman is angling to run for governor in 2026. If he does five minutes at the Improv, will it help the cause?

— Dan Janison dan.janison@newsday.com

Pencil Point

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