Gay New York Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) weighed in on Democrats’ disastrous performance in last week’s election, saying the results reflected “wishful thinking” on the part of the party, supporters, and the media.

“Surprised? No, I was not surprised,” Torres, who represents a majority Black and Latino working-class district in the Bronx, told The Atlantic. “Much of my side in politics, and much of the media, was in a state of self-deception. We confused analysis with wishful thinking.”

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Torres said Democratic nominee Kamala Harris ran a vigorous and effective campaign but couldn’t overcome the reality of voters’ dissatisfaction with the post-pandemic economy.

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“A majority of Americans disapprove of Biden’s performance and felt they were worse off,” Torres said. Harris, “was not responsible for the inflation, but objectively, that was a near-insurmountable disadvantage.”

But Torres also pointed to Democrats’ alienation from the working-class voters that swept Trump to an electoral college victory and the first popular vote win for a Republican in 20 years.

“Donald Trump had no greater friend than the far left,” Torres said, “which alienated historic numbers of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and Jews with absurdities like ‘Defund the police’ or ‘From the river to the sea’ or ‘Latinx.’”

The term Latinx, in particular, has been under fire since before the election. Marcel Roman, a Harvard government professor, said he’s discovered Latino voters deeply dislike the sobriquet, which he described as part of a “political education meant to root out queerphobia in Latino communities.”

Arizona Senate candidate and current U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) banned the term in congressional communications and by canvassers who reached out to voters on the campaign trail this year.

“When Latino politicos use the term it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use. It is a vicious circle of confirmation bias,” Gallego tweeted in 2021. With 92% of the vote in, Gallego currently leads Republican challenger Kari Lake by about 80,000 votes, according to the AP.

“It’s just important that white liberals don’t impose their thoughts and policies on us,” Gallego told The Atlantic.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the country’s oldest Latino advocacy group, has dropped Latinx, as well.

“The reality is, there is very little to no support for its use, and it’s sort of seen as something used inside the Beltway or in Ivy League tower settings,” García told NBC News.

Torres was clear-eyed about the message a majority of voters sent across the country and in his own district.

He remains a progressive Democrat on economic issues, fundamental rights, and the effects of a broken immigration system — addressing the needs of undocumented workers in the Bronx is a regular part of his job — but says, “You have to recognize that in a democracy, public opinion matters.”

He added, “We cannot just assume that we can reshape the world in a utopian way.”

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