Events /
What Just Happened? A 2024 Election Reaction Discussion
Roosevelt House presents an election reaction panel featuring New York journalists and former political leaders assessing the result of the 2024 presidential election, and where the nation goes from here. This event will provide an opportunity to the Hunter community and beyond to respond to, and ask questions about, the defeat of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris—and, in particular, what a second Trump presidency means for immigrants, students, families, and the women of New York.
Panelists will include the Political Director for Spectrum News NY1 Bob Hardt; veteran journalist and author Jonathan Alter; the Eleanor Roosevelt Distinguished Leader in Residence at Roosevelt House and former longtime Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney; former Speaker of the City Council Melissa Mark-Viverito; and MSNBC Political Analyst Dr. Basil Smikle Jr. The discussion will be moderated by the Jonathan F. Fanton Director of Roosevelt House Harold Holzer.
Panelists:
Jonathan Alter is a columnist, historian, and documentary filmmaker. A former longtime senior editor for Newsweek magazine and political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, Alter is the author of American Reckoning: Inside Trump’s Trial―and My Own. He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, The New Yorker, Bloomberg and the Daily Beast. Recently, he covered the Trump felony trial for NYTimes Opinion, The Washington Monthly, and Old Goats, his Substack newsletter. He has participated in numerous Roosevelt House events.
Bob Hardt has been the Political Director of Spectrum News NY-1 for 20 years, overseeing the station’s coverage of state and local politics, writing a column for its website, supervising the program Inside City Hall, and frequently appearing on-air with morning anchor Pat Kiernan to discuss and analyze political campaigns and results. Hardt previously worked at both the New York Post and the Associated Press.
Harold Holzer has served since 2015 as the Jonathan F. Fanton Director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. A prolific author with more than 50 books to his credit, he won the 2015 Gilder Lehrman Prize and a 2008 National Humanities Medal. His most recent book is Brought Forth on this Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration.
Hon. Carolyn B. Maloney, the Eleanor Roosevelt Distinguished Leader in Residence at Roosevelt House, represented the upper east side of Manhattan (and parts of Queens and Brooklyn) in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years. Maloney was the first woman to Chair the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Joint Economic Committee. She authored and passed more than 81 landmark measures, including the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, the Postal Service Reform Act, and the Credit CARD Act. She is also a former Chair and current Board Member of the ERA Coalition.
Dr. Basil Smikle Jr. is an MSNBC Political Analyst and Director of the nonprofit management program at Columbia University. A longtime political strategist, policy advisor, and former Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Party, he served previously as Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Public Policy Program at Roosevelt House.
Hon. Melissa Mark-Viverito is former Speaker of the New York City Council and a former longtime councilmember representing the 8th District, which includes East Harlem and the South Bronx. The first Puerto Rican and first Latina to hold a citywide elected position, she currently serves as President of Hamilton Campaign Network.
