Free Republic

**SNIP** Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared a video of a drag queen roundtable that she says will "push society forward." "Electoralism has limits," she wrote. "Elected officials often don’t lead our most impactful societal changes, they follow them. The heroes who lead true change are the activists, artists, organizers & others who educate + push society forward." "People think Congress and government is all about leading people, but ultimately, a lot of our politics is about following the public will. The people who change the way people think are artists and drag queens, and let's not forget who threw that first...

In videos posted Thursday night, far-left U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar push for a seemingly socialist overhaul of the U.S. government in reaction to the coronavirus outbreak. The first-term progressive Democratic congresswomen, from New York and Minnesota, respectively, call for the removal of a “profit motive” from lawmakers’ decisions and the “nationalization” of the nation’s health care system. They and other Democrats have been critical of President Trump’s decision to allow the governors and legislatures of the nation’s 50 states, as well as U.S. territories, to largely set their own strategies for reacting to the virus - which...

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Republican challenger, Dalia al Aqidi, criticized Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for injecting race into the coronavirus pandemic discussion. “COVID deaths are disproportionately spiking in Black + Brown communities,” Ocasio-Cortez, who is a member of "the Squad" along with Omar, said on Twitter. “Why? Because the chronic toll of redlining, environmental racism, wealth gap, etc. ARE underlying health conditions.” “Inequality is a comorbidity. COVID relief should be drafted with a lens of reparations," she added. Al Aqidi responded by asking for evidence of Ocasio-Cortez’s claim and accusing the New York congresswoman of trying to divide the country. “Where is...

Standing five feet and five inches tall with her signature ruby red lips, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, AOC, now the youngest woman in Congress and leader of The Squad, was once known as Sandy, the dorky kid with big front teeth living in the working class Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx. 'I was born in a place where my zip code determined my destiny,' she says in biography AOC: The Fearless Rise and Powerful Resonance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by Lynda Lopez, out June 2. 'My parents did everything in their power to move me out of that zip code'. From scrubbing toilets...

Progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) made the case that the proposed Wuhan coronavirus relief package that's currently floating in Congress shows why progressive ideas and the progressive movement are achievable. "It's actually a fascinating progressive moment because what it's shown is that all of these issues have never been about how are you going to pay for it. It's never been about whether we have the capacity to do these things or if the logistics have worked out," AOC explained in a video for Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. "All of these excuses that we have been given as...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said on Thursday that lawmakers should consider a swath of measures, including “no-strings” universal basic income (UBI) programs, as a response to the economic impacts of the Chinese coronavirus. The freshman lawmaker weighed in on the ongoing debate over an economic relief package designed to combat the ramifications of the coronavirus. She said while proposals, like expanding unemployment insurance, are good, they are not enough and pushed for far more drastic, big-government measures.

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reacted to former Vice President Joe Biden's primary wins on Tuesday, telling supporters it was "a tough night" for Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) supporters. "There's no sugarcoating it. Tonight is a tough night," Ocasio-Cortez, who is one of Sanders's most high-profile supporters, said in an Instagram Live video. "Tonight is a tough night electorally," she added before citing the generational gap in support between Sanders and Biden. "Older voters, which we know are more reliable voters, which we know turn out, have decisively gone to former Vice President Biden." "There's a generational divide within the...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faces the risk of being “Crowleyed” in June, as one of her primary challengers accuses the democratic socialist millennial of gallivanting across the U.S. instead of tending to her constituents in New York’s 14th Congressional District. Just like Joe Crowley, the district’s former representative who served for two-decades and became part of leadership in Washington, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez runs the risk of her voters growing increasingly frustrated with her lack of presence - and disconnect - at home, said Democratic primary challenger Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, a former business reporter and CNBC contributor. “I want to be a representative to...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Wednesday decried President Donald Trump’s appointment of Vice President Mike Pence to lead the administration’s effort to combat the potential spread of deadly Chinese coronavirus in the United States, claiming he is unqualified for the role. “Mike Pence literally does not believe in science. It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic,” the New York Democrat wrote on social media. “This decision could cost people their lives. Pence’s past decisions already have.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in an interview Tuesday, suggesting that even if the billionaire candidate were to win the presidency in November, he would pave the way for "a worse Trump." "Obviously, we have to beat Trump, but if we beat Trump and go back to the same policies that we had before, a worse Trump is going to come. A Trump that’s more sophisticated, whose fascism is less obvious, is going to come, and things could get even worse," Ocasio-Cortez, a prominent campaign surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said during...

There’s “far apart on the political spectrum,” and then there’s Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Meghan McCain. On Wednesday morning, those opposing political views came to a head during Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance on The View, where she sparred with McCain on everything from the 2020 Democratic primary to Bernie Bros. While the two remained relatively civil for the entire interview, there were a few moments of tension when McCain grilled Ocasio-Cortez on socialism and progressive policies. “To conservatives like me, it is like the apocalypse,” said McCain. “It’s a huge ask for people like me, this seismic shift from capitalism to socialism.”...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who shocked the political world in 2018 when she upset former Democratic Caucus Chairman Joseph Crowley, has inspired six candidates who are looking to follow her example and defeat longtime House Democrats. The effort again put Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, at odds with party leaders. The leadership’s campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, moved to put the kibosh on insurgent candidacies last year by blacklisting vendors that do business with primary challengers. “Well, 70% of Americans live in a safe seat. They live in a safe Democratic seat or they live in a safe Republican...

Despite her massive national media presence, it appears U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., isn’t taking reelection for granted. At a Saturday kickoff event in her bid for a second term, the far-left freshman congresswoman told supporters she wanted to see voter turnout in New York’s 14th Congressional District increase by “four times” over her previous run in 2018. No fewer than 12 Democrats have filed in the district to run against Ocasio-Cortez in the primary election on June 23, according to radio station WINS of New York City. In addition, at least three Republicans will vie for a chance to...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday that if Sen. Bernie Sanders were elected president, he still might not be able to get Medicare for All, his signature health plan, passed in Congress. “A president can’t wave a magic wand and pass any legislation they want,” Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told HuffPost this week. While Ocasio-Cortez rarely tempers expectations when championing ideas like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal to fight climate change she helped author, she went on to suggest that under a President Sanders, a “compromise” might emerge on health care, even though she still considers Sanders’s bill the gold...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and an abortion-rights group backed a Texas primary challenger looking to unseat an anti-abortion Democrat on Thursday night, attacking his record and accusing him of wanting to "maintain the status quo" after he launched an attack ad against his opponent. In a letter sent to progressive activists in the MoveOn advocacy group, Ocasio-Cortez took aim at Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas' 28th district for receiving an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association and opposing her Green New Deal proposal. The abortion-rights group NARAL also accused him of launching a "dishonest" ad campaign against the progressive primary challenger...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at critics who deride her experience as a bartender during an appearance on an episode of Showtime's "Desus & Mero" released Thursday. The congresswoman mixed a few drinks for her fellow Bronx natives, show hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, on a tour of their home borough. When Desus asked Ocasio-Cortez how she takes criticism of her service industry background, she suggested that some members of Congress think they're "smarter" than their working class constituents and colleagues. "I feel like people are always clowning themselves when they say that because it's like, okay so...

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her boyfriend Riley Roberts offered a gradual three-step approach for helping white people do their part to combat racism. The New York Democrat took on a wide range of questions from followers in her latest Instagram Q & A session Friday night, including one about how white people can help "chip away" at racist beliefs among fellow Caucasian friends and family. Ocasio-Cortez and Roberts--who has largely avoided public remarks during his girlfriend's time in office--offered side-by-side "tips on combating racism as a White person," as well as responses to questions about generational wealth and the "hot...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says it is imperative for Democrats to back the eventual 2020 nominee - even if “subversive policies” by party leaders torpedo a campaign. The New York Democrat - a staunch supporter of Sen. Bernard Sanders‘ campaign - told Time magazine that underhanded tactics should not deter Democrats in the general election of their candidate were targeted during primary elections. **SNIP** Ms. Ocasio-Cortez went on to warn key decision makers not to attempt to politically kneecap Mr. Sanders‘ campaign. “Ocasio-Cortez also discouraged Democrats from using party rules or other mechanisms to block Sanders if he advances,” the magazine...

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke of an unhealthy country nearly teetering on the brink of collapse in a speech on behalf of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at an Iowa campaign rally, saying radical change is necessary to reverse the bipartisan policies that have deeply hurt the economic circumstances of the average person in the United States. AOC cited the falling life expectancy of white people and stagnated wages as evidence that the U.S. is a "nation in decline" and said "it’s up to us to turn it around. The trends that got us here will not...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., stated on Monday that the Democratic Party is a "center or center-conservative" party and how there currently isn't a "left" party in the United States. Speaking at an event commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Ocasio-Cortez knocked her own party for not being progressive enough. "We don't have a left party in the United States. The Democratic Party is not a left party," the freshman congresswoman began, which sparked applause from the audience. "The Democratic Party is a center or a center-conservative party.”