‘Why do we listen to people who lost?’: AOC rips into McCaskill over election criticisms
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After a disappointing election night, Democrats in and out of power are arguing where the party should go from here. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had some harsh words when former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill said on MSNBC the party had focused too much on certain cultural and identity issues.
On Wednesday, Ms McCaskill, a relatively conservative Democrat who lost her seat in 2018, told MSNBC this strategy was letting Republicans pick off blue voters.
“The Republican Party very adroitly adopted cultural issues as part of their main theme,” she said. “Whether you’re talking guns, or issues surrounding the right to abortion in this country, or things like gay marriage and rights for ‘transsexuals,’ and other people we as a party have tried to ‘look after’ and make sure they’re treated fairly—as we circled those issues, we left some voters behind and Republicans dove in with a vengeance.”
Claire McCaskill: "Whether you are talking guns or...abortion...or gay marriage and rights for 'transexuals' and other people who we as a party 'look after' and make sure they are treated fairly. As we circled the issues we left voters behind and Republicans dove in." pic.twitter.com/bMh9JALAxg
— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) November 5, 2020
The progressive representative from New York had some sharp words for the former senator. She argued that backing conservative positions, as Ms McCaskill occasionally did when siding with the president on certain immigration issues, cost her the Senate seat.
Read more: Follow the 2020 US election results live.
Why do we listen to people who lost elections as if they are experts in winning elections?
McCaskill tried her approach. She ran as a caravan-hysteria Dem& lost while grassroots organizers won progressive measures in MO. Her language here shows how she took her base for granted. https://t.co/ZnTXI59MW9— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 5, 2020
The former senator later apologised for using the term “transexuals”—many prefer the term “transgender people” or “trans people”—and said her words had been misinterpreted.
I’m so sorry I used hurtful term last night.I was tired,but never a good excuse.People have misinterpreted what I was trying to say.Our party should never leave behind our fight 4 equality for trans people or anyone else who has been marginalized by hate. My record reflects that.
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) November 5, 2020
The two have clashed in the past over how far left the Democrats should swing. During her 2018 campaign, Senator McCaskill had advertisements distancing herself from “crazy” Democrats, an apparent dig at progressive Senators like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. She also derided Ms Ocasio-Cortez as “a bright shiny new object” whose liberal proposals might turn off white working class voters.
Then as now, the New York representative felt Senator McCaskill didn’t have grounds to make those criticisms.
Not sure why fmr Sen. McCaskill keeps going on TV to call me a “thing” and “shiny object,” but it’s pretty disappointing.
McCaskill promised she’d “100% back Trump up” on his anti-immigrant rhetoric & lost. In MO, almost all progressive ballot issues won. https://t.co/53qKvnr8KG— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 29, 2018
Heading into the 2020 election, Democrats felt they had a good chance to capture the presidency and advance their gains in Congress, amid a pandemic response from the Trump administration that left more than 233,000 people dead. After losing what could amount to six seats in the House, and likely failing to recapture the Senate, intra-party disputes are heating up.
Some have floated the idea of replacing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in favour of someone they believe could more effectively bridge the divide between progressives and moderates in the party.
Others blamed political experts who failed to predict the outcome of the election.
DCCC Chair Bustos tells House Democrats, per person on the call: "I’m furious. Something went wrong here across the entire political world."
— Bridget Bowman (@bridgetbhc) November 5, 2020
Read more: US election results map: Live updates by state