Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, slammed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday following his loss in this week’s midterm elections.
Maloney laughingly blamed the media for Democrats losing U.S. House seats throughout deep blue New York before acknowledging that Governor Kathy Hochul hurt down ballot Democrats.
When asked about Ocasio-Cortez blaming Democrat leadership for the party losing seats in New York, Maloney responded, “The last time I ran into A.O.C., 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.”
“So, I’m not sure what kind of advice she has, but I’m sure she’ll be generous with it,” Maloney continued. “But let’s be clear, she had almost nothing to do with what turned out to be an historic defense of our majority. 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,” he concluded. “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 quickly responded to the interview, claiming without evidence that Maloney “courted” her for donations for swing district candidates.
“SPM courted me for donations to swing races & it was the 1st thing I did this term,” she claimed. “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.”
“What I love about his claim that we gave frontline members ‘donations they didn’t want’: a) the VAST majority were good w/ early financial support to position themselves early b) for the few who didn’t want our help + got it, where do you think we got the $ info to give? DCCC!” she claimed. “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.”
“Lastly, many moderate dems + leaders made it very clear that our help was not welcome nor wanted,” she concluded. “Despite our many, many offers. Yet found ways to try to help from afar. So for them to blame us for respecting their approach in their districts is laughable. Take some ownership.”
