New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s failed attempt to buck the establishment had leftists in a tiff and one MSNBC host appeared to take a shot at California Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
(Video Credit: MSNBC)
Preparations for the 119th Congress, where Republicans will have control of both chambers and the White House, found Democratic Party members at odds over one ranking member’s role in committees. In particular, Ocasio-Cortez suffered back-to-back losses against Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, prompting MSNBC’s Joy Reid to deviate from her standard racial grievances and instead lament the “gerontocracy.”
“At this point, almost nothing the Democratic Party does makes any damned sense. They are hanging onto their gerontocracy and consultant class at the expense of their most loyal voters. And let’s just be clear, they’ll be fine while our communities pay the price,” she wrote on Bluesky Tuesday after the 35-year-old New York representative lost bids to be ranking member of the Steering and Policy Committee 34-27 and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability 131-84 — both to 74-year-old Connolly.
Later Tuesday on her program, Reid’s complaints about younger minority legislators not being awarded more say in the caucus circled back to a gripe about the oldest on Capitol Hill who continue to cling to power.
“Why not have an AOC and a [Texas Rep.] Jasmine Crockett who, quite frankly, are never scared of Donald Trump or Republicans,” said guest, former senior adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, Alencia Johnson.
In response, Reid suggested, “AOC and Jasmine Crockett are probably two of their best communicators…you have people that have the skills, but they are not pushing them forward. [Massachusetts Rep.] Ayanna Presley is one of your strongest communicators. Why isn’t she pushed forward?”
“This gerontocracy seems like it’s intractable,” she went on to complain as Pelosi was said to have made calls pushing Connolly over Ocasio-Cortez. “I recall that when President Obama was elected, he kind of pushed aside the DNC and created his own organization because I think there’s a frustration with the sort of creaky way the DNC operates.”
Bringing up outgoing DNC Chair Jamie Harrison, the host added, “Jamie, you know, God bless him, couldn’t really change it. But it is run by donors and consultants and people who are locked into the old ways of doing things.”
Similar arguments were carried out on social media as Dan Pfeiffer of “Pod Save America” posted to X, “Valuing seniority over political and messaging chops is exactly how Democrats got into this mess in the first place.”
However, podcaster Matt Lech wasn’t buying the “seniority” line as he reminded that Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin had previously bucked Connolly and Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch for the spot, “It is maliciously misleading people to say this is about ‘seniority,’ which was not determinative last time. Are we gonna grow the f*ck up and confront this blatant corruption here or just shadowbox?”
As other outspoken commentators sounded off with their own beliefs that the problem was the messengers and not the message, Connolly vowed “trench warfare” against Republicans in the upcoming Congress.
It is maliciously misleading people to say this is about “seniority,” which was not determinative last time.
Are we gonna grow the fuck up and confront this blatant corruption here or just shadowbox. https://t.co/QCww0aqLSj pic.twitter.com/WrjIplNZ6t
— Matt Lech (@MattLech) December 17, 2024
Democrats refuse to learn their lesson. Refuse to take generational change seriously. Refuse to spotlight the party’s most effective communicators.
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) December 17, 2024
Yep. Power was left on the table. I was absolutely wrong.
— Hartzell (@hartzell965) December 18, 2024
“We know what the Republican playbook will be. We’ve seen it before. They have demonstrated that they are willing to traffic in debunked conspiracy theories and enable the worst abuses of the Trump administration,” he said in a statement. “This will be trench warfare. Now is not the time to be timid. I promise the American people that our Committee Democrats will be a beacon of truth and prepared from Day One to counter Republican gaslighting. We will be disciplined. We will be laser-focused in getting results on the kitchen table issues that affect the American people the most. We will stand up for our democracy and for truth. And we will protect the tremendous and historic progress we have made as House Democrats.”
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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