Democrat Congressman-elect Pat Ryan blasted Donald Trump as ‘traitorous’ on Wednesday night, going after the ex-president roughly 24 hours after narrowly winning a special election in a New York swing district.
The military veteran scored a major upset for Democrats on Tuesday night when he eked out a narrow victory for a seat that Republicans were widely expected to flip red.
And despite the number of GOP voters in New York’s 19th Congressional District, Ryan made clear on MSNBC that he has not shied away from taking shots at Trump when warranted.
‘We are not afraid to call out Donald Trump as someone who I believe is essentially traitorous at this point,’ Ryan told primetime host Alex Wagner.
He appeared to be alluding to the ongoing federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents when he added, ‘I mean, I had a top secret clearance. I was an Army officer.’
‘If I had done what he did, I would have been in jail. One hundred percent, no questions asked,’ Ryan said.
Ryan dug in further, attacking Republican positions on gun control and the January 6 Capitol riot.
Military veteran Pat Ryan narrowly won a special election to finish Democrat Rep. Antonio Delgado’s term on Tuesday
Ryan took a jab at Donald Trump during a Wednesday night interview despite how many Republicans are in his district
‘It’s just guardrails of democracy increasingly being hit, and that is a wake up call for folks,’ the congressman-elect said.
Ryan was elected on Tuesday night to serve the remainder of Democrat Rep. Antonio Delgado’s term.
Delgado was named lieutenant governor when Kathy Hochul took the reins in Albany after disgraced ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo’s departure.
A true swing district, residents in New York’s 19th voted to send Barack Obama to the White House in 2012, then Donald Trump in 2016, and President Joe Biden in 2020.
The Hudson Valley race was being watched as a possible bellwether for November’s elections – where Republicans had been expected to win the majority in the House.
Midterm races are usually miserable for the party in power, and with inflation high and Biden’s approval rating low, Republicans were anticipating a typical landslide.
He beat Republican Marc Molinaro, who was widely projected to win the race
While it may still end up a solid GOP year, Ryan’s win is the latest indication that Democrats don’t have to abandon hope just yet.
Projections of a ‘red tsunami’ were upended after the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in June sent an unprecedented shockwave through midterm voters across the nation.
Ryan ran his campaign largely on the rollback of abortion rights, while Molinaro focused on the economic burden everyday Americans are feeling under record inflation and a sinking stock market.
Ryan defeated Molinaro by a margin of roughly 3,000 votes.
His new role will be short-lived, however. He’s set to finish Delgado’s term for the rest of this year.
The state’s newly-redrawn district map puts Ryan’s home in the neighboring 18th Congressional District, where he handily won the Democratic primary to compete in November for a full term.
Molinaro won his GOP primary in the new 19th Congressional District, meaning he’ll face Democrat Josh Riley in the fall for another shot at the seat.