By Dan Murphy
Many democrats in the 16th Congressional district of NY were shocked and befuddled when Congressman Jamaal Bowman skipped a neighborhood candidates forum in his own neighborhood to appear on The Colbert Show.
One Sound Shore Democrat told us, “he knows he lost, so he is auditioning for his next gig.”
After his lackluster appearance on Colbert, Bowman turned up the heat by screaming and cursing with AOC and Bernie Sanders at a rally for Bowman in the South Bronx. The problem, for some, was that the rally was not held in his district. It was held in St. Mary’s Park in the Mott Haven neighborhood in the south bronx.
St. Mary’s Park is located in the 15th district, represented by democrat Congressman Ritchie Torres. Congressman Torres is not a member of the squad, and after the tirade by Bowman and AOC at the rally, Torres said about the rally, “The level of profanity here is so shocking as to be unbecoming of a Member of Congress, There is nothing in Jamaal Bowman’s unhinged tirade that remotely resembles the decency of the people I know and represent in the South Bronx,” said Torres on X.
Now after Bowman’s loss to George Latimer in NY-16, Bowman’s supporters are tossing out the idea of Bowman challenging Torres in NY-15.
Torres is the first gay Afro-Latino in Congress, and differs with Bowman as a staunch supporter of Israel.
Torres has also blasted Bowman for pulling the fire alarm in Congress last year.
The support for Bowman comes from the same ultra-progressive groups like the Democratic Socialists and the Working Families Party that lost with Bowman to Latimer.
“Even if it happens, a Bowman-Torres race is two years away. That’s a lifetime in politics. Plus I think Bowman is going to try and make a couple of bucks on cable TV. Or get ready for Bowman on YouTube soon,” said another Westchester Democrat.
