Carlos Watson of MSNBC once introduced O'Malley as "one of the real-life inspirations for the mayor of the hit TV show The Wire", to which O'Malley responded that he was instead the show's "antidote".
Carlos Watson of MSNBC identified O'Malley as a real-life figure who inspired the character of the mayor on the TV show "The Wire", and O'Malley responded by saying that he was not the inspiration but rather the opposing force to the fictional mayor in the show.