Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney complained that Rupert Murdoch”™s News Corp. media outlets fueled his defeat to Mike Lawler in the New York”™s 18th Congressional District, and he also berated Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for being more of a hindrance than a help in his re-election.
In an interview with the New York Times, Maloney accused “the hysteria of the New York Post and of Fox News combined,” both News Corp. platforms, in creating an exaggerated picture of New York City crime ”“ which, he argued, permeated to his Hudson Valley district and scared voters.
“They are all in the New York City media market, therefore you have these suburban voters who are experiencing those messages coming out of New York City outlets, which were heavily focused on crime,” he said. “Suburban voters are always concerned about the state of New York City. In this case, they were told very negative things, even though in suburban areas north of the city, we are blessed to have some of the safest cities anywhere and crime rates that are lower than just a few years ago.”
Maloney added that much of the negative media coverage from the News Corp. outlets were aimed at Gov. Kathy Hochul”™s handling of crime, although he stopped short of specifically blaming her for his loss.
“The competitive gubernatorial race was also a factor and probably gave Republicans a reason to turn out,” he continued. “That might not normally be the case when the outcome is a foregone conclusion. I can also tell you that the governor really struggled in the suburbs, and it clearly had an effect on our races as well. I want to be clear: I”™m not blaming the governor, it”™s just a fact that she was able to make up the difference in the city, but that doesn”™t help in suburban districts.”
Maloney added that this situation was distinctive to the New York suburban races, noting that his party “didn”™t see this problem in Pennsylvania or Michigan, or Minnesota, or Wisconsin, where Democratic statewide candidates performed very well and, of course, had positive effects down ballot.”
Maloney, who did not take personal responsibility for any aspect of his Election Day failure during his interview, also offered less than courteous comments about Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive New York City congresswoman who won her re-election bid.
“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,” he said. “So, I”™m not sure what kind of advice she has, but I”™m sure she”™ll be generous with it. 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.”
The outgoing congressman observed that suburban voters were not fans of the ideas that Ocasio-Cortez is “most associated with, from defunding the police on down. 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.”
