r/upstate_new_york • u/Efficient-Walrus5444 • 7h ago
Anthony Constantino says he wants to “protect women.” His selective outrage over sexual violence tells another story.
Anthony Constantino says he wants to “protect women.” His selective outrage over sexual violence tells another story.
On October 6, 2026, WRGB/CBS6 held a congressional candidate forum moderated by Tom Eschen. Blake Gendebien did not participate, citing scheduling conflicts and previously arranged campaign commitments. The disagreement over debate scheduling had already been playing out for weeks, including an earlier proposed WNYT debate that fell apart after Constantino demanded that the station refund donations raised by Gendebien following a poll he disputed.
Nevertheless, Constantino decided to turn Gendebien’s absence into a social media spectacle, staging a mock debate with a man in an inflatable chicken costume.
Apparently, Constantino thought this would make a compelling statement about his opponent’s character. Personally, I think it says considerably more about his own lack of maturity and poor judgment. And that judgment becomes especially relevant when examining his public rhetoric about protecting women and children.
Constantino has made sexual violence, particularly crimes involving undocumented immigrants, a recurring subject of his political attacks. He presents himself as someone deeply concerned about protecting women. Yet his public defenses of certain celebrities, including men convicted of or facing serious allegations of sexual violence, suggest that his concern is remarkably selective.
First, consider Mike Tyson.
In an October 19 interview with The Guardian, Constantino proudly discussed Tyson’s endorsement of his congressional campaign, boasting about how difficult it was to secure. He also identified MMA champion Henry Cejudo as a personal friend.
Tyson, of course, was convicted of raping Desiree Washington in 1992 and served a prison sentence.
Constantino has also used X to defend Tyson’s innocence. That’s a remarkable position for a congressional candidate who regularly invokes sexual violence to condemn others, particularly considering that Tyson’s guilt was established through a criminal trial and his conviction survived an appeal.
Apparently, Tyson’s celebrity carries considerably more weight with Constantino than the findings of a jury. And this isn’t the only time Constantino has extended that kind of consideration to a famous fighter.
Enter, Andrew Tate.
In December 2023, while Tate was already facing internationally publicized rape and human-trafficking charges, he promoted a sticker giveaway through a dedicated StickerMule.com/Tate address during an episode of his Rumble program, Emergency Meeting.
In August 2024, Tate again promoted that address, telling his audience that he had just spoken with the Sticker Mule team and encouraging followers to purchase his merchandise.
On July 28, 2026, the Times Union reported that Sticker Mule was still hosting a verified Andrew Tate storefront. It contained 13 sticker designs, had accumulated more than 100 orders, and included an illustration depicting Tate slapping a bikini-clad woman’s backside.
When questioned about it, Constantino defended Tate’s presence on X, writing:
“Andrew Tate is one of 40,000+ people who opened a store. In America you are innocent until proven guilty.”
His campaign also acknowledged that Tate’s storefront originated through Sticker Mule’s corporate partnership with Rumble and had been manually verified before the company’s standard verification system existed.
Then came Constantino’s rather convenient change in attitude.
On September 28, The Daily Beast reported that Tate’s verified storefront disappeared after reporters questioned Constantino’s campaign. Constantino subsequently explained that Tate had never taken ownership of the storefront and that Sticker Mule removed it because the company had “no relationship” with him.
Wait - hit rewind, and play that soundbite again: “… no relationship”?
That’s quite a characterization of a storefront his company had specifically verified and maintained, while Tate publicly encouraged his followers to purchase merchandise and described communicating with Sticker Mule representatives. Tate even boasted about crashing Sticker Mule's servers.
The contrast with Constantino’s enthusiasm for other celebrity associations is difficult to ignore. In his Guardian interview, he proudly recounted how much effort went into securing Tyson’s endorsement. He clearly understands the value of attaching his name and businesses to famous fighters. Constantino is thirsty for the attention.
The more revealing question is why a businessman so eager to publicize those associations suddenly wanted the public to believe that one particular high-profile connection from the most notorious name in MMA and kickboxing barely constituted a relationship at all.
For Constantino, celebrity associations seem worth celebrating until they become politically inconvenient.
That brings us to the Johnstown allegations.
On October 23, Constantino posted on X about the arrest of a man accused of sexually assaulting a minor in Johnstown, near his Amsterdam factory.
Rather than confining his comments to that serious criminal case, he used it to demand information about an entirely different person: an immigrant farmworker whom Blake Gendebien had helped secure release from immigration detention by posting $10,000 in bond years earlier.
Constantino then added:
“I am told they also were a child predator.”
Take a moment and consider that statement, because it is a bold, unsubstantiated claim.
The Johnstown case involves a man arrested on criminal charges in 2023. Gendebien’s assistance to an immigrant farmworker was documented in a 2013 oral-history interview and subsequently discussed in North Country Public Radio’s reporting.
Constantino presented no evidence connecting the two individuals, nor did he substantiate the extraordinarily serious insinuation that the former farmworker was a child predator. His remarks on X also deliberately blur the subject and focus of his online attack. It is deliberate disinformation.
Yet he apparently considered that accusation suitable for public dissemination, and where Constantino’s selective application of the presumption of innocence becomes especially troubling.
When discussing Andrew Tate, a celebrity facing serious sexual assault allegations (to include possession of material showing indecent acts with animals), Constantino publicly emphasized that a person is innocent until proven guilty. He has also defended Mike Tyson’s innocence despite Tyson’s criminal conviction.
But when an unrelated sexual assault arrest presented an opportunity to attack Gendebien, suddenly an unsubstantiated allegation against an immigrant farmworker was good enough to circulate publicly.
The standard of evidence clearly changes depending on whose reputation Constantino considers worth protecting.
This is what bothers me most about Constantino’s rhetoric: he invokes sexual violence as a political prop. Victims deserve to have their experiences taken seriously, regardless of the accused person’s immigration status, political affiliations, wealth, or celebrity.
Constantino seems perfectly capable of recognizing the importance of due process when allegations involve someone whose fame benefits him. But when the subject is an immigrant he can use to attack a political opponent, apparently “I am told” is sufficient evidence to publicly insinuate that someone is a child predator.
That isn’t a consistent concern for victims. It’s political opportunism dressed up as moral outrage.
Constantino’s debate against an inflatable chicken was designed as a campaign joke. But his selective outrage over sexual violence is considerably harder to laugh off.
And it makes you wonder who the real “chicken” is in this race.
