PENN YAN – Democrat Tracy Mitrano called out Congressman Tom Reed during a teleconference Tuesday morning, saying that she believes reed is “playing the game” while serving in the House of Representatives.
“I am critical of Mr. Reed because he has done nothing to help,” Mitrano said. “For all of his identification of Washington as a swamp, he is right there in the midst of it and he’s playing the game and we need better. We deserve better than that in the 23rd District.”
Mitrano went further in a press release released Tuesday, stating that the Congressman’s relationship with President Trump “divides people.”
“To have a representative who is in lockstep with the President isn’t just contrary to needs of our district, it is also wasteful, ineffective politics,” says Mitrano. “It inevitably divides people, and it doesn’t help the people being hurt.”
WNYNewsNow asked Tom Reed for comment regarding Mitrano’s remarks during a teleconference Tuesday morning.
“We fundamentally disagree with that assessment and, obviously, engage in partisan campaigning immediately in the new year, two years before the election, speak for itself,” Reed said. “I won’t address the merits of such a baseless type of political comment, and focus on the substance.”
“People don’t believe that we have threats coming to the border, they didn’t live through 9/11….We need to secure our border. There’s a deal to be struck here, and we’ll be a voice to get that done in due time, and that due time is now, and I hoped it would’ve been yesterday.”
Reed said his focus, right now, is to put the concerns and interest of the district first.
“What I believe is that if you focus on the issues, and you focus on the policies, the politics will take care of itself,” Reed said. “I believe we’ve advocated for our positions very effectively, and we will fight extremism when we see it.”
“It’s about balancing, but at the same time, prioritizing and taking care of the people of the district first and foremost, and that’s what we are trying to do day in and day out, and the politics will take care of itself.”
Mitrano is a sore loser