National

Carolyn Maloney blunders Biden apology

WASHINGTON — As far as apologies go, the one Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York City offered to President Biden during a CNN appearance on Thursday arguably fell somewhat short of the mark.

Having said earlier in the week that she did not believe that Biden would run for reelection in 2024, the longtime Democratic legislator, who is now locked in a fierce Democratic primary she had not expected, seemed to realize that maligning the leader of her own party may have been a mistake, given how easily the president won Manhattan in 2020.

But the cleanup may have only made a bigger mess. “Mr. President, I apologize,” a seemingly weary Maloney told CNN anchor Brianna Keilar on Thursday morning, before unspooling an elaboration that seemed to render the apology null. “I want you to run. I happen to think you won’t be running, but when you run or if you run, I will be there 100%. You have deserved it. You are a great president and thank you for everything you’ve done for my state and all the states and all the cities in America. Thank you, Mr. President.”

The baffling episode is a sign of how fraught the question of Biden's reelection has become. It is also the latest twist in the Democratic primary in New York's 12th Congressional District, which has seen Maloney battling another House veteran, Rep. Jerry Nadler, also of Manhattan, and the attorney Suraj Patel, who is half their age (Maloney is 76, while Nadler is 75).

The primary is on August 23. Given the district's ideological tilt, a Republican stands little chance in the ensuing general election, making the Democratic primary the far more crucial of the two contests.

It wasn't supposed to be this way for either Maloney or Nadler, who have been colleagues in Washington since 2013. But a complex redistricting process effectively erased Nadler's district on the Upper West Side. Searching for a new seat, he looked across Central Park to the Upper East Side district Maloney represents. (The new 12th district also includes parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan, where Patel is likely to find more traction).

The bitterness engendered by Nadler’s challenge has been to the delight of Patel, a Stanford graduate who had lost to Maloney in the 2018 and 2020 Democratic primaries.

Patel's argument that New York needs younger and more energetic leadership mirrors what Democrats have been saying about Biden, who will turn 80 in November. "Joe Biden Is Too Old to Be President Again," went the headline of a column by Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times on July 11. And while a Times op-ed may not have the influence today it had a half-century ago, its influence remains strong among the wealthy white voters of the Upper East Side, whom both Nadler and Maloney are now avidly courting.

The need to put distance between themselves and Biden may explain their responses, during a televised debate on Tuesday, to a question from moderator Errol Louis about whether Biden should seek reelection in 2024.

“Yes,” Patel answered quickly.

“Too early to say,” Nadler replied. “It doesn’t serve the purpose of the Democratic Party to deal with that until after the midterms.”

The most controversial answer came from Maloney, who evidently sought to channel the dissatisfaction with Biden among many Democrats. “I don’t believe he is running for reelection,” Maloney said, offering no evidence for her assertion. She is not known to be especially close to Biden or to any of the advisers who would be familiar with his thinking. And the president insists he will seek reelection.

An astonished Patel looked directly into the camera, evidently aware that he was in the midst of a viral moment. Indeed, the exchange instantly became the sole truly newsworthy moment of the debate, with the president’s detractors seizing on Maloney’s comments as evidence that even famously liberal Manhattan had grown weary of Biden.

By the next morning, Maloney saw fit to explain herself. "I will absolutely support President Biden, if he decides to run for reelection," she wrote in a Twitter thread. "Biden's leadership securing historic investments for healthcare, climate & economic justice prove once again why he is the strong and effective leader we need right now."

But that wasn’t enough, and there was Maloney on CNN the following morning, apologizing more fulsomely before confoundingly repeating the controversial claim from Tuesday night.

The ensuing social media feeding frenzy has been to the delight of Patel, who had already been on the offensive against Maloney. Last week, his campaign attacked Maloney after a cyclist died on the Upper East Side after being struck by a truck. A plan to install a bike lane on the very street where she was killed had been canceled after pressure from Maloney.

The fracas over her debate comments provided a far lighter opportunity to press the case against the Democratic stalwart. “Carolyn Maloney is on an embarrassing, multi-day flip-flop non-apology tour where she’s now walked back her walk back,” his campaign wrote in a press release.