On Tuesday, voters across the country overwhelmingly rejected the incumbent administration and the advocacy of the media. Perhaps no House race better encompassed that phenomenon than New York’s First Congressional District, where former CNN anchor John Avlon lost by over ten percentage points to Republican Nick LaLota despite a concerted media effort to foist him into government. 

Avlon outraised his opponent by nearly 20% with donors including LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, hedge fund manager Dan Loeb, and former HBO CEO Richard Plepler. Throughout the campaign, he received endorsements from Liz Cheney, Billy Joel, and Don Lemon. “You can trust him,” Lemon insisted. 

For months, the media establishment fawned over their chosen avatar. “He was well-dressed, articulate, and telegenic,” Slate gushed. In New York Magazine, Avlon compared himself “to a Norman Rockwell painting … the guy standing up in a town hall.” Just one day before the election, ABC News insisted that his race was “razor thin.” 

Their enthusiasm was understandable as he parroted the media class’s most familiar talking points. He insisted defeating Trump was necessary to “defend our democracy” yet called for the former President to be banned from ballots for “insurrection.” He staunchly supported US funding for the war in Ukraine. And during the Covid response, he embraced every destruction of American liberty.