Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Democratic primary challenger is chiming in on Kevin O’Leary’s scathing criticism of the Squad member’s leadership in her New York City district.
House candidate Marty Dolan told “Fox & Friends First” Friday that AOC has been “bad for the community” after the “Shark Tank” co-host said he “wouldn’t let her manage a candy store.”
“I think the impact of AOC’s really terrible leadership is much worse than one candy store,” Dolan said, arguing businesses have been scared away from operating in her district. “So if you’re not pro-business, it isn’t just that you’re a bad manager or a bad leader, you’re bad for the community in general.”
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Ocasio-Cortez has been criticized for waging a successful political campaign in Queens in 2020 to block Amazon from building its second headquarters there.
CEO of Job Creators Network Alfredo Ortiz told Fox News Digital at the time that her campaign cost the city “25,000 good-paying jobs” and that she “sent a message to job creators everywhere that they were no longer welcome in her city.”
O’Leary blasted Ocasio-Cortez in a recent interview, telling OutKick’s “Maintaining with Tyrus” that her district looks like a “Third World country.”
“I look at AOC, what an incredible, incredibly successful politician she is and what a horrific manager she is,” he told Tyrus.
O’Leary then asked New York voters, “Why would you want to reward that? Why wouldn’t you say, ‘Excuse me. Could I get better management, please? I live here. I pay taxes here and I’d like a job. And I don’t think you’re doing a great job for me as a manager. How about I hire somebody else?’”
Dolan, who describes himself as a moderate Democrat, remarked that his party “used to be for unions, for protecting people who had jobs” but now the district’s policies are “selfishly” for AOC’s benefit.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the set of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on April 8, 2024. (Screenshot/Colbert)
Dolan is also the son of an Argentinian refugee and expressed concerns with progressive Democrats trying to implement socialism in the U.S.
“This is like if you’re trying to turn the United States into Venezuela, which is this great big socialist experiment for the last six years. This is Bernie Sanders and AOC trying to turn the United States into Venezuela.”
Dolan told Fox News in March he’s going to capitalize on residents’ “dissatisfaction” and showcase how AOC looks good in the media, but not so good to everyday people.
“There’s a lot of dissatisfaction in the district,” he said, noting, “a lot of what AOC has done has been very good at the headlines, but not so good in the street.”
“So whether it’s the Green New Deal, whether it’s the Amazon deal, whether it’s the immigrants that are coming in and taking benefits that are intended for constituents, she’s really putting the headlines first and the constituents second,” he added.
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Fox News’ Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
Elizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant with Fox News.