“Hello, I must be going.”

Groucho's paradoxical lyric might serve as a score to congressional candidate Jackie Auringer's brief appearance and swift departure at a Daily Freeman sponsored debate Friday – as close to any kind of Marxism as she's ever likely to get.

In a format that allotted her first turn at a five-minute opening statement, Auringer described herself as “ just someone who felt like I can't keep complaining about what was going on if I was not willing to step up and do the job myself” and said she's “running on three things,” affordability, opportunity and accountability.

As for her opponent, Auringer said, he “has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, including lawsuits, bad business deals, and even lodging reimbursements he's received while living in D.C. on the taxpayers' dime.” She promised to release “the Pat Ryan file” on all that.

Ryan, she charged, “has spent the last several months attacking me with slanderous lies, sending mailers to my house, using surrogates to write articles. This morning, his team even sent me a direct email trying to get in my head before our debate.”

If Ryan hasn't gotten into her head it seems the local paper of record sure has. And so it was then things took a surprising turn. Auringer played the “fake news” card.

“To the Daily Freeman,” she said, addressing moderators Regional Managing Editor Ivan Lajara and reporter Paul Kirby, “You are anything but a free man. You've repeatedly misspelled my last name, misidentified my father and jumbled facts without correction. You refuse to update your articles when we point out a discrepancy. You make up your own rules, and you don't apply them to candidates fairly.”

“Most of all,” she continued, “you've refused to actually ask my opponent why he's collected nearly $70,000 in taxpayer payer-funded lodging reimbursements.”

Most salient of Auringer's charges was her claim to have “learned about a reported financial relationship between the Ryan family and the Daily Freeman, involving the building which the Ryan family rents to you guys. Go figure.” If that proves to be true the “Ryan file” could be explosive.

All that led up to Auringer's parting shot. “I will no longer play these games and let politicians and media outlets like you toy with our lives,” she announced. “My voice, other Republicans’ and conservatives’ voices have been silenced by people like you, and I'm just going to say this: I was praying this morning, and I realize that I do forgive you. I just hope that you have a little more decency and compassion with anyone who is genuinely trying to make a difference in the future. Because of all these reasons, I will not be participating in this debate. Thank you.”

The “debate” went on all the same, Lajara opting to continue with questions for Ryan, who passed up the chance to jump on Auringer for her surprising departure. His campaign's statement on the incident was similarly restrained. “[Pat] Ryan was looking forward to a spirited debate about the issues that matter to Hudson Valley voters, but Jackie gave up on the debate after less than five minutes, before they had a chance.”

As to Auringer's allegations about a “financial relationship” between Ryan and the Daily Freeman, the paper reported that “the building in which the Freeman is housed at 115 Green St., in Kingston, was once owned by one of Ryan’s relatives but has been owned by Charles Blaichman, who is not related to Ryan, since 2021.”