NY GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro, Dem challenger Josh Riley go for jugular over immigration

Upstate GOP Rep. Marc Molinaro and Dem foe Josh Riley went for the jugular — accusing each other of “lying” about their record on immigration and abortion — during a heated debate in their battle for a key House seat.

“You have consistently lied about my position,” Molinaro (R-NY) railed at Riley about attack ads claiming the first-term congressman would back a national abortion ban.

At another point, Riley glared at the camera and told viewers Molinaro was “lying to you,” in reference to his position about immigration.

The hourlong face-off, hosted by group of Albany-based media outlets Thursday night, will be the only one between the two men, who are battling for the 19th Congressional District, a swing seat that could be key in the Democrats’ fight to take back the House.

The debate was at points a live reenactment of the millions of dollars of attack ads that have been plastering the upstate district for the last few weeks, whacking Molinaro on abortion and Riley on immigration.

“He’s lying to you. He’s lying to you,” Riley said after Molinaro tried to tie legal briefs the lawyer wrote on behalf of immigration officials during his time in DC to failures at the southern border.

“The discretionary argument he made, this president and Alejandro Mayorkas put into practice,” Molinaro, the former Dutchess County executive, claimed, “A policy that said you could simply claim asylum and enter into this country.”

Riley’s name appears as one of the authors on the filings from Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, a politically connected law firm where he was employed for several years following a stint as an attorney in the US Senate.

Molinaro claimed Riley “sued” 32 times to reduce border security with the briefs, but the Broome County native referred to the figure as a “magic handbag of numbers.”

Riley’s campaign recently sent a cease and desist letter to TV stations that are running an ad from the National Republican Campaign Committee with the same attack, arguing the claim is “demonstrably false.”

The lying accusations didn’t stop at immigration, with Molinaro swatting at Riley for claiming he would vote to ban abortion at a national level.

“The decision should be left to a woman and her physician, not Washington,” Molinaro said.

“I oppose a national abortion ban and I will continue to work to expand access to the treatment support and care necessary no matter the choice a woman makes.”

Riley challenged Molinaro to sign onto legislation that would effectively codify Roe v. Wade protections for abortion into federal law.

“If you believed anything that was coming out of your mouth you would sign onto the bill,” Riley smugly shot at Molinaro, leaning against his podium, a disposable coffee cup in hand.

Both candidates were quick to avoid invoking the top of their respective tickets – Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Riley has made it a point to publicly bash the Biden administration, arguing it has failed when it comes to securing the southern border.

Molinaro, asked why he’d be supporting Trump despite refusing to get behind him when he ran in 2016, pointed to Biden’s failures instead of hyping up the Republican presidential candidate.

“I have a hard time embracing somebody who runs for office and says pay no attention to all the crises we created over these last three years,” Molinaro said of Harris.

The opponents — who previously ran against each other in 2022, with Molinaro beating Riley by a slim margin — did find common ground when it came to their support for Israel.

Both called for the eradication of Hamas and a return of hostages taken by the terror group during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

“We have to bring this war to a close,” Riley said. “I would support a plan that would end the fighting, get our hostages out, provide humanitarian assistance where it’s needed, and put us back on a path toward a two-state solution.”

Riley and Molinaro both attended memorial services on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel Monday.

“We need to confront antisemitism as the cancer it is, and that means standing with Israel and Israel’s right not only to defend itself but to bring Hamas to its knees and to ultimately bring the hostages home,” Molinaro said.

“We as a nation must make very clear that if you harbor individuals and support individuals who act out in violent and intolerant ways against individuals, against Jewish Americans, that that’s not something to be accepted,” he said.