Ex-NY GOP Rep. Peter King calls for his party’s Senate candidate Mike Sapraicone to drop out over donation to Letitia James

A former Republican congressman blasted his party’s chosen US Senate candidate, saying he should drop out of the race for donating to liberal New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Former Rep. Peter King said Wednesday Senate candidate Mike Sapraicone should step aside after it surfaced that his security firm donated $1,000 to James, a nemesis of President Donald Trump.

“The right thing for [Sapraicone] to do is to withdraw from the race and if he doesn’t, I would ask President Trump to ask him to withdraw,” King said during an appearance on WABC’s Sid & Friends show.

“I think he’s done,” King later told The Post, referring to Sapraicone.

He called it “indefensible” for the candidate to have donated to James, who recently won a conviction against Trump in a civil case that ended with the ex-president ordered to pay a staggering $355 million. Trump is appealing the verdict and penalty as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”

Sapraicone’s firm Squad Security donated $1,000 to James’ re-election campaign on March 8, 2022 — when James’ office was actively investigating Trump.

Sapraicone and his firm have donated $150,000 to Democratic candidates, including disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Rep. Tom Suozzi, campaign disclosure records show.

Many Republican businessman — including Trump himself — have donated to Democratic officeholders who’ve had a grip on statewide offices for decades in the deeply blue Empire State.

King acknowledged that business owners often donate to campaigns from “both sides” and but said “there are limits.”

The longtime Congress member said his party can’t afford to depress its vote by running Sapraicone, and alienating the pro-Trump base.

The donations to Democrats were raised by two other candidates who jockeyed for the Republican nomination: Cara Castronuova — a Trump boosting former Golden Gloves boxing champ and celebrity fitness trainer on TV’s “The Biggest Loser” — and businessman Josh Eisen.

Sapraicone said he isn’t going anywhere, after netting 84% of the vote at the state Republican convention to run against the heavily favored Gillibrand.

“Notwithstanding the cries of failed candidates, including my two opponents for the U.S. Senate nomination who received a paltry single-digit percentage of the vote, I would never drop out of the race and I am full speed ahead in our effort to defeat Kirsten Gillibrand in November and help President Trump win New York State,” he said in a statement.

The candidate also said Trump has his “vote and full support” in his run for president this year.

“President Trump and I were both born in the same hospital in Queens, built successful businesses and attended Mets games in adjacent boxes where I was lucky to share a hot dog and a brief word with him on a few occasions,” Sapraicone said. “I will work hard to both return President Trump to the White House and carry his agenda in the U.S. Capitol.”

It’s another embarrassment for New York Republicans, who took heat for running serial liar George Santos for Congress without having done a background check to uncover a series of controversies and fabricated claims. Santos won in election, but was expelled from Congress and ultimately shunned by many within his own party.

The Post has reached out to state Republican Party chairman Ed Cox for comment.