Avlon pitched himself as a moderate, 'common-sense' Democrat
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Former CNN anchor and political analyst John Avlon, who was among the network’s fiercest critics of former President Trump, lost his bid to represent New York’s 1st Congressional District.
Avlon announced in February that he would exit CNN to "defeat Donald Trump" and "his MAGA minions" by seeking office as a Democrat, but ultimately lost to Republican Rep. Nick LaLota. Avlon conceded the race before midnight on Election Day, keeping the district located in the eastern part of Long Island red.
Avlon pitched himself as a moderate, "common-sense" Democrat, getting the "centrist" label in favorable profiles from New York Magazine and Vanity Fair, as well as a derisive one from the far-left Intercept. Avlon, whose wife Margaret Hoover is a conservative PBS host and the great-granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover, quickly mentioned Trump when asked about the issues he’s running on during an April profile in New York Magazine.
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Freshman GOP Rep. Nick LaLota defeated former CNN anchor John Avlon. (Getty Images)
"The No. 1 issue is affordability. There’s Donald Trump, defense of democracy, and there’s affordability and abortion," Avlon told the outlet.
Avlon called on Democrats to "reach out" to independents and the "center-right" in his Democratic primary victory speech in June, noting he was running in a swing district.
"I'm a common-sense Democrat," he said. "We're liberal patriots and pragmatic problem-solvers."
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Avlon’s disdain for Trump and his supporters runs deep and began in 2015 when he was the editor-in-chief of the far-left Daily Beast. At the time, Daily Beast writer Noah Shachtman said that anyone renting in a Trump building or playing a round of golf at a Trump resort is "supporting racism and neo-fascism."
Avlon rushed to his staffers’ defense, saying Shachtman was entitled to his opinion and the organization’s mission includes standing up to "bullies, bigots and hypocrites."
Weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Avlon wrongly declared Trump "lost the presidency" when the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape showed him using lewd language discussing women on a hot mic.
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Former CNN anchor and political analyst John Avlon, who was among the network’s fiercest critics of former President Trump, lost his bid to represent New York’s 1st Congressional District. (CNN/Screenshot)
"Conservative supporters have been played for fools by Con Man Donald," Avlon wrote. "For Republicans, this is a time to head to the lifeboats."
Trump proved Avlon wrong and defeated Hillary Clinton, prompting The Daily Beast to add an editor’s note that the "column now reads as a classic example of why prediction is a bad business to be in."
After Trump won, The Daily Beast declared it would be part of the "loyal opposition" against the president. He even insisted the outlet would refrain from covering Trump on Sunday mornings, calling it "Sabbath for sanity."
In 2018, Avlon gushed about how The Daily Beast "roared back and took on Trump."
"The dark, surreal rise of Trump from reality show star to Wingnut populist to President of the United States was right in The Beast’s strike zone - a story that combined politics, pop-culture and power," Avlon wrote.
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John Avlon regularly attacked former President Trump during his time at CNN. (Screenshot/CNN)
That same year, Avlon became a full-time CNN analyst at the height of the network’s Jeff Zucker-era pivot to anti-Trump opinion programming. Avlon fit right in where his "Reality Check" segments were frequently used to bash Trump, regularly insisting the former president was a threat to democracy and that "derangement syndrome" had infected his supporters.
In 2020, Avlon compared Trump and his supporters who contested the presidential election to "Confederates" in support of slavery under the guise of states' rights.
Avlon said in January that you "can’t overstate enough the amount of instability, chaos and degradation of democracy, which would result from Donald Trump being elected" and people who think Trump will defend democracy are "delusional."
Avlon also praised the infamous letter from former intelligence officials making evidence-free claims that Hunter Biden's laptop was a Russian disinformation operation.
Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to
