Republican caught schmoozing banks while hitting opponent's fundraising

Trump wannabe Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) might soon be kicked out of Congress after serving just one term.

The struggling Trump acolyte isn’t helping her chances, launching phony attacks about her Democratic challenger’s fundraising at the same time she’s hobnobbing with banking lobbyists.

Last week, Tenney tried to ding her opponent, Anthony Brindisi, by making fun of the fact he was in Washington, D.C.:

DARK MONEY: @ABrindisiNY Are you having fun in DC at your fundraiser rubbing elbows with Nancy Pelosi's liberal allies? How much DC special interest money will you accept today??

— Claudia Tenney (@claudiatenney) September 12, 2018

But what was Tenney doing on the exact same day she lobbed that “special interest money” attack? She was schmoozing with bank lobbyists, in Washington, D.C., celebrating the roll-back of the landmark Dodd-Frank consumer protection regulations that were instituted after the financial collapse of 2008.

ICBA hosted a reception on Capitol Hill to celebrate the pro-community bank regulatory relief policies enacted under S. 2155. The reception hosted numerous lawmakers and staff members from congressional offices that have been champions of community banks. pic.twitter.com/LfyqS2dnRl

— Independent Community Bankers of America (@ICBA) September 13, 2018

Those are weird optics for someone trying to score points about the evils of “special interest money.”

Indeed, the Dodd-Frank rollback Trump signed into law now “means that only 13 of the nation’s biggest banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., now will be required to receive Dodd-Frank’s tough oversight,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Tenney is currently among the most vulnerable Republicans in the House. The non-partisan Cook Political Report calls Tenney’s race a toss-up, yet she represents a solidly red district in upstate New York that has only sent one Democrat to Congress since 1983.

Tenney has gained national notoriety for a series of bizarre comments and actions, which seem to mirror the erratic behavior of her political idol, Trump.

During a talk radio interview in February discussing gun rights in the wake of the massacre in Parkland, Florida, Tenney, who won an A rating and endorsement from the NRA, made a bizarre claim about mass shooters.

“It’s interesting that so many of these people that commit the mass murders end up being Democrats,” she said. “The media doesn’t talk about that.”

Even the former Republican congressman from her district, Richard Hanna, unloaded on Tenney, calling her shooting rhetoric “among the most insensitive comments I’ve ever heard on an issue that’s so raw.”

When a local New York reporter pressed her on the comment, this was Tenney’s incoherent response: “The most false — the false statements every day, the media, the Democrats. What are they doing? Turn on the media. The drumbeat every single day is that it’s Republicans, Republicans, Republicans, the NRA. The Republicans cause these things to happen.”

She then lost her cool. “I answered your question every which way. It is fake news,” she claimed.

In July, Tenney rolled out an astonishing whopper, claiming the GOP tax cuts, which are obliterating the federal deficit, “have already been paid for.”

More recently, Tenney warned staffers not to go out at night alone because “thuggish” members of Brindisi’ Italian family might attack them.

Recently, Trump traveled to Utica for a $10,000 per-person, closed-door fundraiser for Tenney. Her campaign stuck local taxpayers with the $30,000 bill for the event. The mayor has sent Tenney two letters requesting she reimburse the city.

Tenney has refused. Meeting with banking lobbyists seems like more of a priority.