Nicole Malliotakis and Michael DeCillis clashed during Face to Face (Pt. 2) over President Trump’s rhetoric and how often candidates should meet voters. The exchange put their competing styles in front of voters in Staten Island and South Brooklyn, where both are seeking the same seat in Washington.
Malliotakis said President Trump should have apologized for sharing a video depicting the Obamas as apes. She also defended telephone town halls, saying her last event drew 6,000 participants.
Michael DeCillis and 12 town halls
DeCillis pushed back on criticism of his own language about Trump and said it was neither racist nor bigoted. He said he had held 12 town halls and forums over 16 months, using that record to answer Malliotakis’ argument that in-person outreach matters more than calls or forums from a distance.
The candidates’ exchange came in a race framed around representation of Staten Island and South Brooklyn in Washington. Their back-and-forth gave voters a direct contrast: Malliotakis emphasized scale through a telephone town hall, while DeCillis pointed to repeated meetings over more than a year.
Staten Island and South Brooklyn
The disagreement also sharpened the language issue at the center of the race. Malliotakis faulted Trump’s video, while DeCillis defended his own words and rejected the charge that they crossed into racist or bigoted territory.
For voters deciding between the two, the immediate comparison is practical: one candidate pointed to 6,000 participants in a telephone format, and the other cited 12 town halls and forums across 16 months. The next step for those voters is to judge which version of outreach and rhetoric matches the seat they want to send to Washington.
