President Joe Biden will be the one delivering the State of the Union address tonight at the U.S. Capitol. But members of Congress will send their own messages with their plus-ones. New York Republican Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Anthony D’Esposito will bring NYPD Lt. Ben Kurian and Officer Zunxu Tian, who were attacked by migrants in Times Square in late January. And House Speaker Mike Johnson has invited both guests to sit in the speaker’s box. “The NYPD, law enforcement, public safety throughout this country have become victims,” D’Esposito, a former NYPD officer himself, told Playbook. “I hope the president at some time looks up from the podium and looks some of these people in the eye and realizes what a disaster he’s created in the United States of America.” Law and order — now entwined with border security — remains a central theme for Republicans this high-stakes election year, even after their special election loss last month to Long Island Democrat Tom Suozzi, who campaigned on finding solutions to those challenges. New York City’s struggle to shelter tens of thousands of newcomers from the southern border and some incidents of violence involving migrants have helped fuel GOP criticism of Democrats. But the narrative behind the Jan. 27 brawl between Kurian and Tian and a group of migrants has begun to unravel. Surveillance footage of the altercation was widely circulated, including in right-wing news outlets, as an example of Biden border policies gone wrong. Soon afterward, however, additional video was released showing the fight appeared to begin when a migrant lobbed an insult at an officer and was pushed up against a wall for it. Then, last week, the migrant who flipped off news cameras on his way out of court — an image making him a poster boy of migrant crime and a welcome addition to GOP attack ads — was exonerated. Prosecutors said he played no role in the high-profile attack. “I deplore and denounce any attack on police officers, but to try to categorize immigrants as being blood-thirsty criminals is so far from the truth,” Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat of Manhattan told Playbook, citing studies that found no correlation between immigration and higher crime rates. (Espaillat will bring Gov. Kathy Hochul, his longtime friend, as his guest, POLITICO reported.) Malliotakis didn’t let the new revelations throw her off message, telling Playbook the bottom line is this: “These police officers were assaulted by migrants who shouldn’t have been here.” The Staten Island Republican added of tonight’s speech, “What I would love to hear the president say is that he made a mistake, he went too far, he wants to roll back these policies.” New information since the Times Square attack hasn’t changed D’Esposito's mind either. “Whoever that individual was who flipped the bird to the news is irrelevant in this situation,” the Long Islander said. “The police officers were still attacked by migrants. There’s still a migrant crisis in the country.” – Emily Ngo HAPPY THURSDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE’S KATHY? In New York City and Washington, appearing on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” and FOX5’s “Good Day New York,” then attending the the State of the Union address. WHERE’S ERIC? Making an equity- and economic development-related announcement, then delivering remarks and cutting the ceremonial ribbon at the grand opening of The Apollo Stages at the Victoria Theater, then meeting with a delegation from the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program, then hosting a reception to celebrate the culture and heritage of the Bangladeshi community. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We don’t have a surge in crime. We have a surge in recidivism.” – Mayor Eric Adams, stressing the role of repeat subway crime offenders in a series of TV interviews but conspicuously missing from Hochul’s news conference on subway safety.
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