Democratic freshman congressman Max Rose slammed Beto O’Rourke for being a “social-media rock star” who prioritizes his public image over winning elections during an interview with New York Magazine.
“When you win you get to help people, and when you lose you get to be a social-media rock star. So I don’t think Beto is cool, and I don’t think losing is cool,” Rose said.
“Losing is not as cool as he thinks it is,” he added.
On Thursday night, O’Rourke called for for religious institutions to lose their tax-exempt status for opposing gay marriage, saying “we are going to stop those who are infringing upon the human rights of our fellow Americans.”
Rose represents New York’s 11th district, which includes Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn. Trump won the blue collar district by roughly ten points in 2016. Rose has been critical of his fellow Democratic freshmen representatives since taking office in January, and said in the interview that his goal in Washington was not to be “everyone’s buddy,” but to “wage war on the entire political class.”
“The Democratic Party has been completely subsumed by this ‘What’s the Matter With Kansas,’ mantra,” Rose said. “‘Oooh, I don’t understand why they don’t vote for us? Why can’t they be smarter? Don’t they know all we are doing for them?’ It’s the most offensive, patronizing thing imaginable. And it’s taken over the party. A better question would be: Why don’t they trust us?”
Last week, Rose became the last member of Congress from New York City to back the House’s impeachment probe, saying he will “fully support” the inquiry.
The Army veteran, 31, was previously opposed to impeachment, arguing in a September op-ed that “we are in danger of losing the trust of the American people if we choose partisan warfare over improving the lives of hardworking families.”
Rose defended the impeachment inquiry to New York Magazine, but said he was not committed to voting for it, and criticized Democratic colleagues who have cheered it on.
“No one is to blame but the president. The president says he is innocent, so all we are saying is ‘prove it.’ But that is not what they are doing. They are not cooperating, and we need to get to the bottom of it. … This is a national tragedy. It is nothing to cheer on, it is nothing to sell T-shirts over,” he said.
Rose also stated he believes it was wrong for Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden, to serve on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma, which Trump suggested as a matter to investigate to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on a July phone call.