Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur slammed traditional media outlets Sunday for ignoring Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., when she was just an underdog Democratic congressional primary challenger.
“You guys didn’t think she had a chance, so you didn’t give her any outlet at all,” Uygur said during a segment on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” referring to the press at large. “And so the people in her district didn’t get a real sense of, you know, who had the better point of view. She overcame that anyway, and went on to win.”
Uygur made the comments during a discussion on whether the incoming freshman congresswoman was using social media like President Trump to connect directly to her supporters without the need for more established media coverage.
“So if you think, hey, she’s got to go on television to speak to the people, apparently, she didn’t,” Uygur, a Turkish-American lawyer-turned-political commentator, said. “She had to go on the ‘Young Turks’ and social media to speak to the people, and she did, and she won. So she doesn’t owe television anything. She doesn’t owe the corporate Democrats anything. She doesn’t owe Republicans anything.”
Uygur then ripped conventional media outlets for reporting more frequently on subjects who have more “corporate money,” arguing that it “aids and abets corruption.”
“And so it’s not just about Ocasio-Cortez, it’s about the future,” he said. “And in 2020, will you cover progressive candidates that run uncorrupted? And my guess is no. And then you’ll turn around and sometimes blame them later.”
Host Brian Stelter countered, saying journalists covered candidates of all political persuasions regardless of their donors. Fellow guest, New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi, pointed out that Ocasio-Cortez will be an elected official, so she owes the media and her constituents answers to their questions; she also said it was not unusual for the press not to dedicate resources to House contests.
Uygur founded Justice Democrats in January 2017, a grassroots organization that encourages more liberal contenders and which endorsed Ocasio-Cortez early in her race. However, Uygur resigned from his role within the group in December 2017 after controversial blog posts he wrote almost two decades ago resurfaced.
Ocasio-Cortez, who on Nov. 6 officially became the youngest woman elected to Congress, rose to national prominence in June when she defeated 10-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., the No. 4 Democrat in the House, in their primary election to represent New York’s 14th Congressional District.
