Democrat campaign chair dethroned by Republican in New York blasts AOC: 'I'm sure she'll be generous' with her advice



House Democratic campaign chairman Sean Patrick Maloney lost three things this week: his congressional seat in New York's 17th District, his party's majority in the House, and his cool.

Maloney, an incumbent thwarted from securing his sixth term by Republican Mike Lawler, took issue with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-N.Y.) recent comments criticizing the Democratic Party's leadership in the state.

After Maloney suggested that the 33-year-old former bartender might share some blame for the Democrats' historically poor performance in the state, Ocasio-Cortez let loose on Twitter.

Shot

TheBlaze reported that Ocasio-Cortez reacted poorly to the Election Day results, railing on Thursday night against the New York State party leadership.

"NYS Dem party leadership, which was gutted under [former Gov. Andrew] Cuomo, stuffed with lobbyists, works to boost GOP, and failed to pass a basic state ballot measure to protect NY redistricting, must be accountable," Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ocasio-Cortez reiterated her call for New York State Democratic Party president Jay Jacobs to resign, stating, "Last night’s NY underperformance is a testament to years of prioritizing calcified machine politics and favoring over performance, strategy, & organizing ... To Win from here, Jacobs must go and we must recenter the party to better value community leadership and small-d democracy."

In an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, Maloney responded harshly to the congresswoman's suggestions that the state's "leadership is part of the problem."

Maloney said, "The last time I ran into A.O.C., we were beating her endorsed candidate two to one in a primary, and I didn’t see her one minute of these midterms helping our House majority. So, I’m not sure what kind of advice she has, but I’m sure she’ll be generous with it."

Anticipating Ocasio-Cortez's forthcoming advice, Maloney made clear "she had almost nothing to do with what turned out to be an historic defense of our majority. Didn’t pay a dollar of dues. Didn’t do anything for our frontline candidates except give them money when they didn’t want it from her."

The House Democratic campaign chairman noted that Democrats' poor performance in New York could not only be partly attributed to Ocasio-Cortez's failure to act but to the failure of her radical messaging.

"There are other voices who should be heard, especially when suburban voters have clearly rejected the ideas that she’s most associated with, from defunding the police on down," said Maloney.

Although softening his critique somewhat by noting Ocasio-Cortez is "an important voice in our politics," Maloney added that "when it comes to passing our agenda through the Congress, or standing our ground on the political battlefield, she was nowhere to be found."

Chaser

Ocasio-Cortez didn't take kindly to the ousted congressman's remarks.

Thursday evening, she tweeted, "Let’s make something crystal clear: - SPM courted me for donations to swing races & it was the 1st thing I did this term. Over a quarter million for Dems this cycle, DCCC facilitated some & now he denies it. - If he isn’t aware of my visit to CA & efforts we put in, that’s on him."

\u201cLet\u2019s make something crystal clear:\n- SPM courted me for donations to swing races & it was the 1st thing I did this term. Over a quarter million for Dems this cycle, DCCC facilitated some & now he denies it.\n- If he isn\u2019t aware of my visit to CA & efforts we put in, that\u2019s on him\u201d
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1668128836

In response to Maloney's suggestion that voters had rejected the leftist ideas Ocasio-Cortez stands for, the congresswoman claimed, "Statewide victories depended HEAVILY on driving up numbers in progressive areas like mine."

Ocasio-Cortez also blamed her allegedly misguided allocation of political funds on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, writing, "For the few who didn’t want our help + got it, where do you think we got the $ info to give? DCCC!"

WelcomePAC, a committee committed to helping Democrats hold on to power, noted that Ocasio-Cortez "spent more this cycle on merchandise than the combined fundraising of 12 Democratic nominees challenging beatable GOP incumbents."

According to WelcomePAC's late-October "Conceding Democracy" analysis, Ocasio-Cortez spent $1,642,925 on e-commerce. On its Substack, the group wrote, "That's more money spent selling 'Tax the Rich' and 'Abolish ICE' sweatshirts and stickers than 12 Democrats running in flippable Republican held-districts ... have raised this entire cycle — combined."

Although admitting in a subsequent tweet that she had helped "from afar," Ocasio-Cortez suggested that Maloney's failure to see her helping out was just that — his failure.

The congresswoman claimed that Maloney might not have seen her helping "because he as a party leader chose not to see nor value prominent members of his party for years," putting herself in the camp of the undervalued, unseen, and powerless.

Signaling a continued rift between "moderate dems + leaders" and radical progressives in the Democratic Party, Ocasio-Cortez told the defeated Democrat to "take some ownership."

Hanna Trudo, a senior political correspondent at The Hill, marveled at how parts of this exchange had been "aired publicly."

\u201cI talked informally to Sean Patrick Maloney for quite a while on the night of the Congressional Correspondents' Dinner. \n\nHe was very harsh towards progressives, which tracks with his latest comments in the NYT about @AOC.\n\nStunning to see this all being aired publicly.\u201d
— Hanna Trudo (@Hanna Trudo) 1668129533

2 American females who had been abducted from their homes reported safe on the same day



Two American females, living tens of thousands of miles apart, were reported safe on the same day earlier this week.

On Wednesday, Janae Kalia-Henry, 13, was abducted from her home in Reading, Pennsylvania, at around 2:00 in the morning local time. Thankfully, she was found later that evening in Brooklyn, New York, approximately three hours away. She was allegedly found without shoes but was otherwise unharmed.

Detectives drove the girl safely back to her family in Pennsylvania.

\u201cBREAKING: JANAE KALIA-HENRY HAS BEEN FOUND \n\nThis is following the Amber Alert out of Reading, Berks County from earlier today. \n\nSTATE POLICE SAY SHE IS SAFE. THE AMBER ALERT IS CANCELLED\u201d
— Hanna O'Reilly (@Hanna O'Reilly) 1661988141

The NYPD and FBI arrested Dwayne Taylor, 47, of Brooklyn in connection with this case. According to the girl's family, Taylor had met Kalia-Henry's mother online a few months ago, and the two began dating. However, the relationship did not last.

The motive for the kidnapping is unclear.

The City of Reading had issued an Amber Alert on Kalia-Henry's behalf, and the 911 caller who reportedly found Kalia-Henry claimed to have found a missing girl, indicating that the Amber Alert may have affected this case.

"Let this be a lesson to anyone who’s trying to harm any of our little ones," said Eddie Moran, mayor of Reading. "We will do everything possible to make sure they will get apprehended immediately."

Taylor has yet to be charged, though he is expected to be prosecuted "in the near future," officials said.

On the same day on the other side of the world, an 83-year-old American nun named Sr. Suellen Tennyson was reportedly found safe, five months after she had been abducted from her home in Burkina Faso, a small, poor country located in the northwestern region of Africa between the Ivory Coast and Niger.

On April 4, Tennyson, a member of the Marianites of Holy Cross of Louisiana, was in the home she shared with two other nuns and two lay women when 10 armed terrorists broke into the home and kidnapped her, according to U.S. officials. Tennyson was the only American citizen among them.

On Wednesday, the Catholic Church announced that Tennyson had been returned to U.S. custody in Niamey, the capital of Niger. Though Tennyson had been taken without her blood pressure medication, she was reportedly in good health.

"We have no information on the conditions of her release but we express our profound gratitude to those who worked toward it," said Bishop Theophile Nare of Kaya, the fifth largest city in Burkina Faso.

"We are grateful to God for the safety of Sr. Suellen," said Archbishop Gregory Aymond of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, where Tennyson lived and worked for many years. She began her missionary work in Burkina Faso in 2014.



Tennyson's release seems to have been the work of several U.S. military and diplomatic officials in the region. The State Department has said that she "will soon be reunited with loved ones."



Nearly 2,000 arrested at anti-war protests across Russia; prominent Russians rail against Ukraine invasion, including daughter of Putin's spokesperson



Thousands of Russians have poured into streets across the country to participate in anti-war protests. Even prominent Russians have demonstrated their frustration with Vladimir Putin over his decision to invade Ukraine, and some have purportedly faced retaliation from the Kremlin.

Massive anti-war protests across Russia

Russian authorities arrested at least 1,866 people in 60 cities who had been participating in anti-war protests since Thursday, according to OVD Info – a Russia-based human rights organization that monitors political persecutions.

There were huge protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg condemning Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

This is Saint Petersburg, #Russia. At least 705 people have been arrested today at anti-war protests that have taken place in 40 Russian cities, the OVD-Info protest monitor said.pic.twitter.com/7XXoswbpt6
— Hanna Liubakova (@Hanna Liubakova) 1645724979

Prominent Russians rail against invasion of Ukraine

There were also prominent Russians dissenting against their president's decision to invade Ukraine.

Ivan Urgant – a popular talk show host on state-run Channel One, posted a black square on Instagram with the caption: "Fear and pain. No to war."

The Guardian reported, "His show has not gone on air since. Channel One has claimed it is just a scheduling issue, although several reports in Russian media say that they have been blacklisted."

A Channel One spokesperson told the Associated Press that the decision to remove Urgant's show from the schedule was not related to his anti-war post on social media. The television network said they had made a programming decision to replace entertainment shows with news and political shows "because of the current situation."

Rapper Oxxxymiron canceled six sold-out Moscow and St. Petersburg shows because of Russia's aggression.

"I cannot entertain you when Russian missiles are falling on Ukraine," Oxxxymiron, whose real name is Miron Fyodorov, said. "When residents of Kyiv are forced to hide in basements and in the metro, while people are dying."

"I know that most people in Russia are against this war, and I am confident that the more people would talk about their real attitude to it, the faster we can stop this horror," Fyodorov said, according to the New York Times. "This is a crime and a catastrophe."

Yuri Shevchuk, frontman of the Soviet-era rock band DDT, blasted Putin's decision by saying, "We're being pulled like through an ice hole into the past, into the 19th, 18th, 17th centuries. And people refuse to accept it."

Elena Chernenko, a veteran journalist for the Moscow-based Kommersant newspaper, published an open letter voicing her opposition to the war in Ukraine. More than 280 other journalists signed her letter, including some who are employed at state-run news agencies.

Despite not criticizing the government directly, Chernenko was expelled from the Foreign Ministry pool, which she had covered for more than 11 years. The Kremlin said she was removed from the pool for "unprofessional" behavior.

Chernenko told the Guardian that there was "nothing complicated" about writing the letter.

"It was a spontaneous reaction," Chernenko explained. "My country has started a military operation against another … but we’re for diplomacy, we’re for the UN charter, moral values, brotherly nations, and all that. And I had the feeling that this is the wrong path."

Daughters of influential Russians oppose Vladimir Putin's aggression

The daughter of billionaire and Chelsea F.C. owner Roman Abramovich posted an anti-Putin message on social media. The daughter of Abramovich, who has a net worth of $13.5 billion and owns the world's second-largest yacht, shared a post on Instagram that stated: "The biggest and most successful lie of Kremlin’s propaganda is that most Russians stand with Putin."

Even the daughter of Putin's own spokesperson called for an end to the war with Ukraine. Yelizaveta Peskova, the 24-year-old daughter of Dmitry Peskov, posted an anti-war message on social media.

Newsweek reported, "The 24-year-old posted 'HET BOЙHE' (or 'no to war' in English) to her Telegram account." The post was later deleted.

Coincidentally, Dmitry Peskov attempted to pacify protesters by claiming that Putin "hears everyone's opinion." The spokesperson added that Putin also knows "the share of those who have a different point of view and those who are sympathetic to such a necessary operation."

Children of Russian officials and oligarchs have been posting messages like these over social media. Here, the daughters of Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov and Chelsea FC owner and billionaire Roman Abramovichpic.twitter.com/E9XzDcHW2H
— Josie Ensor (@Josie Ensor) 1645804331