Rep. Max Rose (D-NY), an Army veteran who represents Staten Island, did not hold back in his thoughts on the former congressman and current presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke.
Speaking with New York Magazine, Rose said while he wants to maintain his "centrist populism" approach in a district that went to President Trump in 2016, he wants Democrats to be able to win.
“I don’t think losing is cool. I want the Democratic Party to be the party of [Sen.] Kyrsten Sinema and not the party of Beto O’Rourke,” he said. Sinema was elected in 2018 and has been more bipartisan than some were expecting.
Rose laid into O’Rourke for losing against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), with the only thing to show for it was a big social media presence and a floundering presidential campaign.
“Losing is not as cool as he thinks it is,” he said. “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."
"If we don’t win, we can’t do a f**king thing for anybody in a union, anybody in public housing, anybody that can’t reunite with their family because of a f**king racist Muslim ban. This is where it begins and ends for me, so f**king figure it out," Rose added.
Rose is now walking a fine line and facing criticism from Republicans after he voiced support for the impeachment inquiry into Trump, even as he says he would rather be pursuing more pressing issues.
“Staten Island is Trump country,” Jessica Proud, a top GOP operative, told New York Magazine. “They are very resistant to the notion of leftist elitists in Washington who are perpetually offended by everything. They view this as just an attempt to get Trump out, and I don’t see how it is going to serve Rose. It cuts right to the heart of the brand he is trying to create for himself, which is going to Washington and not join the partisan fray. It puts him squarely in the Democratic camp.”