When former CNN political analyst John Avlon announced earlier this year he was running for a House seat, the Media Research Center’s Curtis Houck went on a tirade, vulgarly smearing him as a “pompous prick” (something he has done before) and rehash old MRC attacks on him But Houck refused to disclose that the real reason the MRC hates Avlon so much is because Avlon wiped the floor with MRC executive Tim Graham during a 2016 CNN appearance, countering Graham’s rote right-wing ranting about the “liberal media” with a dose of reality. When Avlon won the Democratic primary for the seat, it was Alex Christy’s turn to whine in a June 26 post:
Former CNN “reality checker” John Avlon won the Democratic Primary in New York’s 1st Congressional District, defeating chemistry professor Nancy Goroff by 40 points.
Democratic campaigns recently have been obsessed with promoting abortion and the idea that democracy is at stake, but Avlon stands out among them for his previous career as CNN’s “reality check” analayst who portrayed himself as a nonpartisan truth teller.
Avlon repeatedly claimed that it is simply a fact that Democrats are not extreme on abortion and that pro-lifers oppose freedom. He falsely stated that overturning Roe v. Wade would “undercut majoritarian democracy.”
Most of Christy’s post was spent rehashing a series of old MRC attacks on Avlon without going particularly in-depth, with the apparent goal of trying to portray Avlon as a far-left lunatic even though much of what Christy cited was Avlon countering right-wing narratives. He also censored the fact of that floor-wiping incident, even though it’s relevant to the MRC’s hatred of Avlon. Christy concluded:
Avlon’s inserting his partisan opinions into his reality checks and other supposedly down-the-middle commentary does not just reflect poorly on him now that he has finally put a “D” next to his name, it raises questions about the rest of the self-styled independent fact-checkers.
He will face GOP Rep. Nick LaLota in November. LaLota was first elected to the House in 2022, where he won by 11 points.
Christy’s post, meanwhile, is effectively a paid ad for LaLota, whom we are sure is happy that Christy is doing oppo research on his behalf. That raises questions about objectivity of self-styled “media researchers” like Christy.