MSNBC's Joy Reid calls out Democratic Party for being run like a 'gerontrocracy' of consultants and donors
MSNBC host Joy Reid criticized the Democratic Party for refusing to allow younger voices like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a chance to take leadership roles away from the oldest members.
Left-leaning media hosts have spoken out against the Democratic Party, specifically their older members after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lost her bid to be the top Democrat on the House Oversight committee to Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va.
MSNBC's Chris Hayes specifically signaled out former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during his show on Tuesday for her support for Connolly.
Connolly, 74, bested the 35-year-old Ocasio-Cortez with 131 to 84 votes in what is seen as a blow to the progressive wing of the party.
"But now Pelosi whipped votes to make sure that Connolly got the Oversight job over the young star in the party, even as the 84-year-old Pelosi is recovering from hip surgery after suffering a fall. It feels like a moment of genuine madness," Hayes said, referencing the recent accident and hospitalization Pelosi suffered while traveling abroad for work.
Liberal media hosts rushed to defend Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and called out Democrats after the progressive lost her bid to be top Democrat on House Oversight. (Left to right: (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for ESSENCE), (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images), (Photo by Steve Zak Photography/FilmMagic), (ABC/Lou Rocco) )
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Hayes argued Democrats needed to take the issue of age seriously after it became an issue in the 2024 election.
"And Democrats are not taking this issue seriously, despite everything that’s happened. But they need to," Hayes declared, referring to how the advanced ages of both the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and President Biden have resulted in political losses for the Democratic Party.
Fellow MSNBC host Joy Reid also called attention to the age issue after Connolly won over Ocasio-Cortez.
"[The] gerontocracy seems like it’s intractable," Reid said. "I recall when Barack Obama was elected, he kind of pushed aside the DNC and created his own organization because I think there is a frustration with the sort of creaky way the DNC operates."
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Reid said that the Democratic Party is dominated by "donors and consultants and people who are locked in the old ways of doing things. They want to advertise on TV. Look, I am for TV, I love TV, I work on TV, but they don’t want to do the sort of new world media. But then AOC is so good at it."
"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin also took issue with Ocasio-Cortez' loss and spoke out in favor of her progressive policies, which she argued should be popular among all Americans.
"She has been demonized by the right, and she’s been demonized as this, like, too progressive far-left person, and I want to try to set the record straight because if she is too progressive, then the Democrats really are going to lose the working class," Hostin said Wednesday.
Hostin touted Ocasio-Cortez' platform, noting she supported health care for all people, affordable housing, rebuilding the unions, federal job guarantee, free public college, creating clean energy jobs, paid parental leave and expanding protections for the LGBTQ+ community.
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Hostin added, "If that is too progressive for this country, then that’s a problem for the Democrats, and that’s a problem, quite frankly, for this country."
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin pushed back on Hostin and said people weren't supportive of Ocasio-Cortez' Green New Deal policies, arguing that it would take away a lot of jobs.
Hostin insisted it would create "millions" of jobs.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is seen in Cannon Tunnel on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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An MSNBC column, written by Hayes Brown, also took aim at the party.
"In rejecting AOC’s bid, Democrats have committed a major unforced error in the party’s struggle to define its future," Brown wrote.
Brown called out Pelosi's role in whipping votes for Connolly and argued Ocasio-Cortez was the better messenger for Democrats.
"More bluntly, it would have served Democrats to consider which candidate will make the better messenger for Democratic voters eager to see the incoming Trump administration met head-on. Is the face that the party wants to put forward really an old guard, perfectly average member of the caucus, chosen primarily for his time served over his ability to break down a complex topic or electrify a crowd?" Brown added.
The MSNBC writer concluded that Ocasio-Cortez was who Democrats needed "to energize a demoralized base" after Trump's win.
Fox News' Jeffrey Clark and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
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