Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., was caught on a hot mic cursing out a former staffer and his friend during a holiday event at the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. — and Williams refuses to apologize for losing his cool.
Williams said the staffer and the man making the recording said “incredibly vile” things about his family, and the Navy veteran defended his response vigorously.
“There are some things that have been said and I went up and said that’s not okay,” he told Semafor.
The video shows Williams forcefully confronting the former aides, and the one shown on film is visibly afraid.
“…just so you know,” Williams is heard saying, ending his sentence with his finger pointed in the former staffer’s face just as the video begins.
“I haven’t done anything,” the former aide said before Williams snapped.
“Everything!” Williams exclaims.
“You fuck with my family, I’ll end every relationship you have. Every single friend! Do you understand me?”
“I haven’t… I didn’t,” the aide stammers.
“You think I don’t know!?” Williams shouts back.
A woman intervenes, and Williams pushes the camera away but asks, “Hey, why don’t you get the police in?”
Williams’ office later offered context to the video, which was posted by a former aide to social media.
The staffers “were fired by the Congressman earlier this year” after “both individuals, the one being confronted by the Congressman and the one filming, made rude comments about the female members of the Congressman’s family,” Taylor Weyeneth, a spokesman for Williams, said in a statement to Stemafor.
“These individuals planted stories with the media and one of them physically shoved the Congressman at a holiday event (edited from the video),” Weyeneth said.
“As a former nuclear submarine officer known for his temperament and poise, tonight should be a lesson to all, never go after this Navy Nuke’s family.”
Take a look —
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
The Horn editorial team