Fox & Friends diner special

Daily Point

TV network paints Bay Shore diners red, pro-Trump

The national cable TV show “Fox & Friends” showed up Monday morning at the Peter Pan Diner in Bay Shore and conducted a very unscientific poll about the upcoming presidential race. With nary an objection, the ad hoc survey was unanimous for Donald Trump.

One woman in a blue T-shirt emblazoned with slogan “I Stand with Trump” didn’t want to hear about Nikki Haley or any other GOP candidate running against Trump when asked for her opinion by Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones.

“I feel like every other candidate has to get out of the way and stop embarrassing themselves,” said the unidentified woman in blue, to applause from the other diners.

Then she looked right into the camera. “Donald Trump, if you’re watching this right now, you need to know that Long Island is for Trump,” said the red-hearted woman in blue. “We will not rest until you’re back in the White House.” Other Peter Pan diners in Bay Shore who were interviewed by Jones expressed similar pro-Trump sentiments on Monday morning, enough to surprise even their Fox interviewer. “I didn’t know conservative voters existed in New York,” laughed Jones, who hails from Texas.

But Long Islander Brian Kilmeade, one of the longtime hosts of the Fox & Friends program, weighed in immediately: “Long Island has gone from purple to very red — reddish.”

However, The Point discovered that the impression left by Fox & Friends about Bay Shore is a bit misleading. In fact, the last time Bay Shore voted for president in 2020, Joe Biden beat Trump by a healthy margin of 10 percentage points (54% to 44%) in the same election district where the Peter Pan Diner is located, according to Board of Election records. In more recent nonpresidential local elections, however, that section of Bay Shore has trended Republican.

Over the weekend, Fox sent out a promotion on Instagram and Facebook, urging viewers to come by the diner starting at 6 a.m. Monday and meet Jones, without mentioning any one specific candidate.

Gary Spanos, a spokesman for the Peter Pan Diner, said the 50 or so guests who took part in the Fox visit Monday were happy to be on TV. But Spanos said the diner itself has plenty of customers who support Biden as well.

“Of course, they [the Trump supporters] were here for one reason — to show their support,” Spanos told The Point as he served customers at the counter. “But we didn’t know what would happen.”

— Thomas Maier thomas.maier@newsday.com, Karthika Namboothiri karthika.namboothiri@newsday.com

Pencil Point

Voices from the past

For more cartoons, visit www.newsday.com/nationalcartoons

Quick Points

Idling thoughts

• Several bills that seek to curtail idling by cars seem likely to be considered by the New York State Legislature in the upcoming session. Seems appropriate that similar bills have been idling in the legislature for years.
• The top strategist for the super PAC of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ disappointing Republican presidential campaign has resigned. Like he’s the problem.
• A new CBS/YouGov poll shows former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley surging in the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary with 29% support among GOP voters. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, languishing in fourth at 10%, called the poll “foolish.” What actually would be foolish is if he doesn’t take those numbers seriously.
• Investigations have shown that Israeli officials knew Hamas was planning an attack on their country and that they also knew the sources of Hamas’ funding but did nothing about either revelation. Actions have consequences, but so does the failure to act.
• After a Washington, D.C. jury’s verdict that he owed two former Georgia election workers $148 million for defaming them, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said that no matter what courts do to him they’re “not going to get me to lie.” One thing is certain: They’re not getting him to tell the truth.
• After filings showed that Hempstead Town Councilman Dennis Dunne Sr. filed his required 2020 financial disclosure statement 929 days past the deadline, a town spokesman said, “Councilman Dunne has indicated that his 2020 financial disclosures were submitted to the Town on time.” Sounds like they’re using a Long Island Rail Road definition of on time.

— Michael Dobie michael.dobie@newsday.com

Subscribe to The Point here and browse past editions of The Point here.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this edition of The Point had the wrong description for Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones.