By: Ilana Siyance
New York City Councilwoman, Inna Vernikov, met with former President Donald Trump.
As reported by the NY Post, Vernikov, a Ukrainian-born Republican, posted a photo of herself with Mr. Trump, saying that he “expressed his solidarity” with Ukrainians amid the ongoing Russian invasion. “Grateful to have met with President Trump. He commended me for flipping my seat from Democrat to Republican & we discussed the need to bring back our beloved NYC,” Vernikov tweeted on Sunday. “He expressed his solidarity with the people of Ukraine & sent prayers and love for my constituents from Ukraine.”
The 37-year-old lawmaker, who is one of just five GOP members in the 51-member body, represents the 48th District, which includes parts of Southern Brooklyn. She was formerly a member of the Democratic party, and switched over, currently serving as the Minority Whip of the City Council. “I thanked him for all he has done for our country and the peace he brought to the Middle East with the Abraham Accords and by exiting the disastrous Iran Deal,” the first-year lawmaker Tweeted on Sunday. “I look forward to a continued relationship with the unparalleled 45th president of the United States.”
Vernikov was also recently in the news for blasting Russian President Vladimir Putin as a terrorist who has “lost his mind”. “What a dark, dark moment in our history. The people in Ukraine are suffering at the hands of a terrorist. And growing up in the region, I know that President Putin has always been a tyrant, but now he has officially lost his mind,” said Vernikov during the first week of the war, while speaking at the NY GOP convention in Garden City, Long Island. “I think that all this is about is more power. I think he wants to destroy democracy. And I think he wants to bring the Soviet Union back. The Ukrainian people and the Russian people do not want this war,” she added.
A self-described “Ukrainian-born American Jew,” Vernikov was raised in Chernovitz while it was under Soviet rule, immigrating with her family to New York in 1996 at the age of 12. “My American dream was to become an attorney, so I went to law school, I had my own law practice for eight years — until I saw this city and the country that I love burn down to the ground, until I saw looting and rioting, until I watched our criminal justice system handcuff our police officers, instead of handcuffing the criminals … until I watched anti-Semitism and all forms of hate rear its ugly head,” Vernikov said earlier this month.
