Not many things can prove a liberal lie better than a liberal loser.
New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a progressive representing one of the most liberal congressional districts east of San Francisco, made that clear to the country when she blamed her landslide primary loss to Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler on Tuesday on some supposed liberal hatred of the idea of a woman in power.
As an exercise in excuse-making and cries for sympathy go, it was beyond pathetic. And as the explosion of mockery on social media showed, it was almost as big a disaster as Maloney’s campaign.
The congresswoman made the claim in her concession speech when the results of her stunningly lopsided loss in the Democratic primary for New York’s 12th Congressional District became clear, according to the New York Post.
Nadler won with 55.4 percent of the vote to Maloney’s paltry 24.4 percent, with third candidate Suraj Patel coming in at 19.1, according to The New York Times.
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“I’m really sad that we no longer have a woman representing Manhattan in Congress,” Maloney told supporters, according to the Post.
She chalked up the humiliating defeat to “sexist systems and misogyny.”
Maloney: Democratic “sexist systems and misogyny” are why I lost to Nadler
Sounds about right to me. Let’s go with that!
Is it true? Seems doubtful, but who are we to dispute career House Democrat Carolyn Maloney?https://t.co/BGeBFRSefV
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) August 24, 2022
Seriously. As the picture at the top of this post shows, Maloney was part of the rabble of leftists who accused the Trump campaign in 2016 of trying to “Make Misogyny Great Again.”
Do you think Maloney’s career in politics is over?
So, she’s using the same “argument” of victimization she wielded against former President Donald Trump — except now it’s an explanation for the votes of one of the most leftist Democratic electorates in the United States. And she never saw the problem here?
The idea that any candidate could blame an election loss of this magnitude on the boogeyman of “misogyny” is ludicrous. The idea that a professional politician who has been elected and re-elected by largely the same voter base for more than three decades could do so is laughable. The idea that she could expect the public to buy it – even a public made up of New York City Democrats – borders on the insane.
And the outpouring of ridicule on social media showed it. Here’s just a taste of the torrent:
@EdMorrissey Maloney: Sure, I won 17 straight elections since 1982, but let’s face it. This 18th election that ended up in a loss was totes because of misogyny, you know. https://t.co/GEngkLX2MI
— Nathanael Yowell (@ndgc12dx) August 24, 2022
I’m so confused. Wouldn’t a claim of misogyny imply there is a definition of a woman?
Maloney cries ‘misogyny’ after Nadler knocks her off in nasty primary fight https://t.co/i8ASTzBjmp via @nypmetro
— TheRightSnark (@JinxOfWV) August 24, 2022
If not sexism, then maybe she could try racism or climate change to explain her loss. Gotta be one of the three, right?
— Marcus (@MarcusCDunn) August 24, 2022
Typical #Democrat. It can’t be that Jerry the Hutt is a better candidate or her embarrassing flip-flop on whether Biden should run in 2024, or even the way the district lines were drawn. No, it HAS to be misogyny. It HAS to be because she’s a woman. And this is her own party!
— Tim Phares (@phares_tim) August 24, 2022
Even non-Democrat, non-New Yorkers can see multiple reasons that Maloney might not appeal to Manhattan Democrats as much as the loathsome Jerry Nadler. (Though the idea of using “appeal” in the same sentence as “Jerry Nadler” is close to stomach-turning.)
The congressman might be blatantly dishonest, and he might have proven to his voters and to his country, repeatedly, that he cares more about the progressive agenda than he does about the republic created by the Founders, but he at least understands the game.
Nadler had endorsements from leading lefty lights like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York — a living insult to American decency — and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — another winner.
He was backed by notoriously leftist leaders like American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and supported by murderous organizations like Planned Parenthood.
He even had the endorsement of The New York Times, a “newspaper” with a readership base that pretty well encapsulates progressive New York Democrats.
He was a nationally prominent figure as an impeachment manager for Trump’s first Senate trial in 2021. Trump was acquitted, of course. But for the type of Democrat who votes in a New York primary and considers The New York Times to be actual journalism, it’s the progressive purity that counts.
And possibly most important, Maloney had said publicly — at least three times — that she didn’t think President Joe Biden is going to run for re-election in 2024. One of those times was at a candidate debate, as CNN reported; once was on CNN itself in an interview about that debate; and once was in front of the editorial board of The New York Times.
The fact the statement is somewhere between “arguably true” and “almost certainly true” is irrelevant, since this is a Democratic primary we’re talking about. Objective truth isn’t exactly a priority.
But Maloney goes for the tired Democratic hobby-horse of “misogyny” to explain her crushing defeat.
As literally incredible as it might be to claim leftist Manhattanites cast their votes on the basis of “misogyny” (it’s actually hysterical, if you think about it), Maloney did the rest of the country one favor: She showed just how empty Democratic accusations of “misogyny,” “racism,” “sexism,” “transphobia” and all the other buzzwords really are.
They’re not actual words representing actual thoughts anymore. They’re verbal bricks to be thrown as necessary to obviate the need to deal with any painfully embarrassing fact that leftists can’t otherwise face.
“Misogyny” meant nothing when Democrats used it against Trump in 2016. It meant nothing when Maloney used it on Tuesday. It’s a solid bet it will mean nothing the next time a Democrat hurls it at Trump, or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, or any other Republican who threatens the Democratic worldview.
Not many things prove a liberal lie better than a liberal loser. And by that standard, Maloney’s abysmal performance Tuesday night couldn’t have been one bit better.
She was basically begging for ridicule, and she got it. American voters need to give her party comrades the same treatment come November.