U.S. Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, head of House Democrats’ campaign arm, blasted fellow New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, saying she was “nowhere to be found” when it came to helping the party hold its control of the House of Representatives.
Maloney became the first Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair to lose their seat in 40 years when he was ousted by GOP state lawmaker Mike Lawler, who ran on crime and inflation. Yet The New York Times touted his efforts saying he “helped give his party a slim but fighting chance to hold its House majority with hard-fought wins across the country.”
The Times — which did note that Democrats “notched perhaps their most costly underperformance” in New York, where Republicans flipped four suburban seats — interviewed Maloney after Tuesday’s loss and asked him about AOC and others on the left complaining about the New York Democratic Party being “part of the problem.”
“The last time I ran into AOC, we were beating her endorsed candidate two to one in a primary, and I didn’t see her one minute of these midterms helping our House majority,” Maloney said. “So, I’m not sure what kind of advice she has, but I’m sure she’ll be generous with it.”
Zing!
Clearly, there’s no love lost between the two, but then Ocasio-Cortez endorsed progressive left state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in her primary bid to unseat Maloney, whom Biaggi called a “corporate Democrat.”
“But let’s be clear, she had almost nothing to do with what turned out to be an historic defense of our majority,” he continued. “Didn’t pay a dollar of dues. Didn’t do anything for our frontline candidates except give them money when they didn’t want it from her.”
“There are other voices who should be heard, especially when suburban voters have clearly rejected the ideas that she’s most associated with, from defunding the police on down,” Maloney said, trying to remain diplomatic. “She’s an important voice in our politics. But when it comes to passing our agenda through the Congress, or standing our ground on the political battlefield, she was nowhere to be found.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded in a series of spirited tweets to Maloney’s “laughable” assertions, saying “many moderate dems + leaders made it very clear that our help was not welcome nor wanted.”
“Take some ownership,” she would conclude, after offering the following defense:
Let’s make something crystal clear:
– SPM courted me for donations to swing races & it was the 1st thing I did this term. Over a quarter million for Dems this cycle, DCCC facilitated some & now he denies it.
– If he isn’t aware of my visit to CA & efforts we put in, that’s on him https://t.co/eACfScbB3T— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 11, 2022
As for him “not seeing me” – perhaps it’s because he as a party leader chose not to see nor value prominent members of his party for years.
Either way, we will continue to organize & turn out undervalued + unseen communities in this country – whether the powerful like it or not.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 11, 2022
Here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from Twitter that suggest there’s a lot at play here:
If he thinks she could have helped its a good thing hes out
— JennyReb1776ULTRA MAGA (@jennyswhite02) November 11, 2022
He’s right. She’s a fraud.
— CCK ️⬛ (@KlassCarol) November 11, 2022
Anyone who thinks that the media narrative on crime in NYC is why Ds lost and yet has harsher words for AOC than for Eric Adams probably isn’t the person we should be looking to for perspective. Thankfully, we don’t have to!
— John Coons (@JohnMCoons) November 11, 2022
Who needs to be a team player when you have an @Twitter account. She and MTG just celebrity politicians to their base.
— amazinsince1962 (@amazinsince1962) November 11, 2022
To be fair to her, she did announce when she started that her goal was to destroy the Democratic Party, not to work with it. She’s only doing what she promised to do.
— Barney (Mastodon: @[email protected]) (@barney1776) November 11, 2022
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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