Varney: Democratic newcomer Jamaal Bowman may push the old guard further left
A loss from long-serving Congressman Eliot Engel to Jamaal Bowman has 'significance way beyond New York'
FOX Business’ Stuart Varney, in his latest “My Take,” argues that young Democrats who’ve been challenging long-serving members of Congress and may split the party even more dramatically and push it further left.
Varney said in Tuesday’s primary, 73-year-old Rep. Eliot Engel, D-NY, was challenged by Jamaal Bowman, a “young man with no political experience,” who’s now leading.
“Engel may lose and that has significance way beyond New York,” he said. “That’s because Jamaal Bowman, the challenger, is a socialist. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a very prominent supporter. Bowman wants Medicare-for-all, the Green New Deal and he wants to defund police departments. If he becomes Congressman Bowman, the far-left gets even stronger and the Democrat split gets more obvious.”
VARNEY: FREE SPEECH IS 'FADING AWAY'
According to Varney, establishment Democrats like Speaker Pelosi, Sen. Schumer and Hillary Clinton all support Rep. Engel.
Democratic congressional candidate Jamaal Bowman speaks to attendees during his election night party, Tuesday, June 23, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
“A trio of big hitters, desperate to avoid another challenge to their authority within the party,” he said. “The old guard is being pushed further and further to the left.”
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Joe Biden is “very much the old guard,” Varney said, which means he must step up his presidential campaign to attract young progressives, where AOC and other young members of Congress will have a say in his policies.
“They're pulling left,” he said. “How does Joe accommodate the socialists while holding on to the ‘moderates’?”
Varney said a Bowman victory would mean New York continues to struggle, since cutting police funding is “not very encouraging” for recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and the riots.
As of current, 92 percent of the vote is counted with Bowman leading Engel 61 percent to 36 percent. Mail-in ballots, however, will not be counted until June 30.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
“So the Democrats have to wait to see if another insurgent further splits their party,” he said. “Doesn't this raise another problem? What happens in November? With widespread mail-in balloting, we're not likely to find out who won the presidency on Election Day. It could be days or weeks to get the results. And that is a guarantee of chaos."