A millionaire Democrat running for Congress who joked about kiddie porn and sex with a 17-year-old played the victim in a halfhearted apology as one opponent pushed him to drop out of the race.
Peter Chatzy, who is running in a primary in Republican Rep. Mike Lawler’s district, is facing mounting criticism for resurfaced social media posts that showed him making gross jokes and even making creepy sex-themed comments about his pets.
“The sexually-charged and misogynistic posts by Peter Chatzky reveal a troubling lack of judgment and a crass objectification of women and girls,” said Tarrytown Trustee Effie Phillips-Staley, a sexual assault victim who is challenging Chatzky in the crowded Democratic primary for New York’s 17th Congressional District in the northern suburbs.
“His statements are difficult to laugh off,” said Phillips-Staley, citing the Jeffrey Epstein files, President Trump and influencer Andrew Tate. “I am calling on Peter Chatzky to end his campaign for Congress.”
Westchester County Democratic Chairwoman Suzanne Berger stopped short of calling for him to drop his bid but issued a scathing critique.
“If someone who worked for me posted publicly like this, that person would be a former employee,” she told The Post.
Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, president of the abortion rights group Pro-Choice Matters, also called for him to drop out and “move on.”
“I have never before witnessed any Democratic candidate for any office so shamelessly and publicly sexualize and degrade women – until now,” she said.
Chatzky, who joked in 2019 about his breakfast pork rinds being filled with “deep fried sperm,” has pumped $5 million of his fortune into his campaign for the hotly contested seat but defended the “bawdy” humor in a Tuesday campaign email, asking supporters to “chip in $3 or more.”
The Post reviewed screenshots of many eyebrow-raising remarks on Facebook from the House Dem hopeful over the years — several of which have since been taken down.
In his recent campaign plea, he did not deny posting the comments “on my personal Facebook page” but claimed he was a victim of “opposition research” leaked by “party elites” and the “political establishment” trying to destroy his candidacy.
“Many of these jokes were absolutely bawdy. Many were based on then-current news stories, designed to get a laugh from people who knew me. They were certainly not meant to be taken as serious thoughts,” Chatzky, the Briarcliff Manor deputy mayor, said in a fundraising appeal.
“Obviously, I didn’t spend years with handlers preparing me for a run for national office, meticulously strategizing over every word to post on my personal page.
He told supporters the political establishment scoured his raunchy posts as far back as 2010 — “instead of talking about getting healthcare premiums under control, ending Trump’s war with Iran, getting masked ICE thugs off our streets, lowering housing costs, or stopping our democracy from being swallowed up by oligarchs.”
On Tuesday, Chatzky issued an apology on his campaign FB page, though he still portrayed himself as a victim, claiming Democratic opponents are trying to “push me out of the race” but “they won’t.”
“Over the years, I made crude over-the-line jokes on my personal Facebook among close friends. They were stupid, they were inappropriate, and I own that completely,” Chatzky said in the statement.
“I regret offending anyone, and I sincerely apologize .”
Among the vulgar posts were:
- In August 2020, he posted an email detailing a blackmail threat: pay a bitcoin ransom or a video of him accessing an inappropriate teen porn website and masturbating would be released. When a friend asked on Facebook if he watched porn with or featuring teens, Chatzky said, “It could be both. . Although I’m sure it was neither. ”Then he added, “Pretty sure.” His friend responded with a laugh emoji.
- In 2016, a friend told Chatzky he wanted to get him a “17-year-old Lithuanian gymnast” for his birthday. Chatzky replied, “The so-called Lithuanian exception applies here.”
- The millionaire software executive joked about masturbation. “They basically are asking me to pay, after watching me masturbating. As you well know, I get paid after people watch me masturbating. It makes no sense,” he said.
- He also made a raunchy comment about then-President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in May 2012. “So, is Obama, f–king Biden, or what?” Chatzky said.
Chatzky also resorted to vulgarity and sexual innuendos about his pets, a birthday cake and hurricanes. His campaign email suggested he also expects more incoming fire.
“We’re three months out from the primary, and the attacks from the establishment are only getting started,” the email to potential campaign contributors stated.
But Effie-Phillips, who received a settlement from Columbia University after claiming she was sexually abused by gynecologist Dr. Robert Hadden, said she could not support Chatzky, should he win the Democratic nomination.
“I have always maintained that while we are competing in the Democratic primary for NY-17, we must ultimately unite as a party to defeat the GOP in November,” Effie-Phillips said.
“However, given the information that has come to light, I cannot in good conscience support or unite behind Mr. Chatzky as our nominee — should he win the Democratic primary,” she said.
Chatzky’s other Democratic opponents include Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson, US Army veteran and former Biden administration security official Cait Conley, and former TV journalist Mike Sacks.
Lawler is seeking a third term in the district, which is categorized as a “toss up” by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
