Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:08 pm
The #4 ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives suffered a stunning defeat Tuesday night in the New York state primary and Donald Trump immediately took credit. According to the president, Rep. Joe Crowley, who has had his eye on Nancy Pelosi’s Speaker position, would have won if he had been “nicer” to him.
“Wow! Big Trump Hater Congressman Joe Crowley, who many expected was going to take Nancy Pelosi’s place, just LOST his primary election. In other words, he’s out! That is a big one that nobody saw happening. Perhaps he should have been nicer, and more respectful, to his President!”
Wow! Big Trump Hater Congressman Joe Crowley, who many expected was going to take Nancy Pelosi’s place, just LOST his primary election. In other words, he’s out! That is a big one that nobody saw happening. Perhaps he should have been nicer, and more respectful, to his President!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2018
Crowley is the the first Democratic congressional incumbent to lose in this year’s primaries. He was beaten by an unknown and underfunded 28 year-old Latina, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had supported Bernie Sanders and also had stirred excitement among the Democratic Party’s left wing.
Crowley’s loss sent a signal that there may be a deep division between the party’s “establishment” and the liberal left wing, as well as a desire for generational change.
Ocasio-Cortez campaigned on her support for such liberal ideas as single-payer “Medicare for All” health insurance, a federal jobs guarantee and abolishing ICE as the nation’s immigration policing agency. She also accused Crowley, a 56-year-old white male with Wall Street connections, as elitist and out of touch from his Queens constituents.
“The community is ready for a movement of economic and social justice. That is what we tried to deliver,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview after her upset victory was announced.
After Trump’s ridiculous tweet he was ridiculed mercilessly on Twitter, being called “stupid” among other things.
“Uh, yeah. I think you may want to read the story a little more closely: Crowley lost to a candidate who belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America. She supports abolishing ICE and Medicare for All. My god but you people are stupid.”
Uh, yeah. I think you may want to read the story a little more closely: Crowley lost to a candidate who belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America. She supports abolishing ICE and Medicare for All. My god but you people are stupid.
— Virginia Hamm (@holborne) June 27, 2018
Also, it was pointed out that Crowley’s loss is not a gain for the GOP in Congress:
“Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will win in November, so a Democrat will still be in that seat. You haven’t gained anything with Crowley’s loss. The Blue Wave is going to win this fight and you will be the loser.”
https://twitter.com/RebeccaL313/status/1011804315986653184
During CNN’s election coverage a panel of analysts burst out laughing after Trump took credit for Crowley’s loss.
“The president’s ability to make everything about himself is just boundless,” said New York Times columnist Frank Bruni. “One can have many different opinions about what this election and Crowley’s defeat means, but one thing for sure it doesn’t mean is that it wasn’t he wasn’t nice enough to Donald Trump. She was not campaigning as someone who was going to be kinder to Trump than Representative Crowley. I can guarantee you that as well.”
CNN Analyst Ryan Lizza pointed out that Ocasio-Cortez ran far to the left of mainstream Democrats.
“She didn’t run just off Obamacare, she ran to the left of Obamacare, for Medicare For All,” Lizza said. “She ran on very strict gun control. She ran on abolishing ICE. I mean she ran on every kind of blue sky Progressive issue out there… this is going to send shock waves through the Democratic Party.”
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