Democrats who fought against bringing Amazon's headquarters to New York City hurt their own party's working-class voters, Rep. Pete King said Friday, adding that freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other opponents pulled off a "disgraceful stunt."
"This was a deal which would bring in 25,000 jobs, a $150,000 average salary," the New York Republican told Fox Business' "Mornings With Maria." "The ones who got hurt most are the Democratic working-class, hard-working, blue-collar families."
The potential for jobs through Amazon were not only lost, but also opportunity for small businesses such as pizza parlors, shops and more, said King.
"It would've said New York is open for business," said King. "The burden is on (Gov.) Andrew Cuomo and (Mayor) Bill de Blasio to fight the left wing of their own party."
No deal is perfect, said King, but Democrats who opposed Amazon were "working for their own ideology, which is bereft of any real thought, that says class politics is bigotry at its worst...if you grew up in the area, this to me is a disgraceful stunt to those working people."
He added that he's bumped into Ocasio-Cortez once, and she seemed "gracious," but he sees her as a "metaphor" for her party's resistance left movement.
King also commented on the U.S.-China talks, saying they need to go "beyond playing economics."
"Cyber theft and again just the theft of secrets by the Chinese is something that has to be stopped," King said.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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