Brand-new Attorney General Todd Blanche endorsed a MAGA candidate for New York governor, a move that prompted outcry.
Alongside President Donald Trump, Blanche appeared in Garden City, New York, to stump for Bruce Blakeman, the GOP nominee for governor of New York, running against incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Online critics slammed the idea of the country's top law enforcement official endorsing a candidate and suggested it may even violate the Hatch Act, which bars most executive branch employees from partisan political activity.
Veteran political commentator Chuck Todd wrote in a post on X, "Trying to remember what Merrick Garland's rally speech was like for Kathy Hochul in 2022," referring to former President Joe Biden's AG and the fact that he never endorsed the New York governor's campaign.
"Nothing like kickstarting your reign as top cop with a blatantly illegal speech," scoffed blogger and Kash Patel foe Jim Stewartson.
"Finally we no longer have the politicization of the Justice Department," joked Jon Ralston, the CEO of the Nevada Independent, an online news organization. "Now they have carte Blanche."
"Every Democrat indicted during the Trump Administration will use this as evidence of vindictive prosecution during their trial," quipped political operative Christopher Hale. "The Trump Administration is the only DOJ that can't indict a ham sandwich. Stuff like this is why."
"This is wildly unethical," reacted online political commentator John Jackson. "Blanche is opposing counsel to Donald Trump in a case where Trump is seeking billions of taxpayer money as damages. And here he is, totally on his side. Never mind the Hatch Act [and] all the DOJ policy violations."
"Endorsing political candidates is now one of the duties of U.S. attorney general, apparently," deadpanned Democracy Docket, which covers elections.
"Don't ever forget that this is entirely corrupt and never happened before," warned Clara Jeffery, the editor-in-chief of Mother Jones.
Meanwhile, MeidasTouch Editor-in-Chief Ron Filipkowski wryly wrote, "The Attorney General doing a campaign rally in NY during the middle of the work day."