The GOP Rep. Who Can’t Let Go of His Michael Jackson Fandom

Mike Lawler is a lot of things: Congressman, New Yorker, Republican. But there’s also a lesser known detail floating around about Lawler: He’s a Michael Jackson superfan.

In an interview with Roll Call this year, Lawler named a 2001 Jackson performance as one of his favorite concerts. He follows scores of the extended Jackson clan on social media. And one of his Instagram posts is devoted to the King of Pop’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

For observers of the rising House GOP star—best known for taking out Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) last cycle—Lawler’s fandom of Michael Jackson may come as a surprise. The former GOP operative is a mainstay on Fox News. In Congress, he has spent much of his political capital on trying to raise the cap on the State and Local Tax deduction or ousting fellow New York Republican George Santos.

Read more at The Daily Beast.