U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she’s “been concerned” about some Democrats not wanting to support her candidate – Sen. Bernie Sanders – if he eventually wins the party’s presidential nomination.
The freshman congresswoman from New York made the remarks Thursday night during an appearance on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
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“I think it’s a two-way street,” Ocasio-Cortez told Meyers. “I’ve been concerned by some folks that say if Bernie’s the nominee, they won’t support him — and the other way around.”
“I’ve been concerned by some folks that say if Bernie’s the nominee, they won’t support him — and the other way around.”
— U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
The comments came amid accusations from many, including President Trump, that Democratic Party leaders were looking to somehow block Sanders from being the party’s standard-bearer in November, despite his early primary wins rivaled only by former Vice President Joe Biden’s Super Tuesday performance.
After Sanders won the Democrats’ Nevada caucuses, Trump said it was possible the U.S. senator from Vermont could face him in the general election – adding “unless they cheat him out of it,” referring to party leaders.
But since then, suspicions of behind-the-scenes dealing escalated after two moderate candidates — Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg — each dropped out of the race ahead of Super Tuesday – giving a big boost to Biden, who surged back into the race after being written off by many.
In addition, Biden has repeatedly referred to himself as a “real Democrat,” playing up a distinction between himself and Sanders, an independent progressive who describes himself as a democratic socialist.
On Thursday, fellow progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the race – but endorsed neither Sanders nor Biden.
Perhaps hoping to sway Warren to the Sanders camp, Ocasio-Cortez saluted the U.S. senator from Massachusetts on the Meyers show, praising Warren for running “a historic candidacy.”
“She’s a champion and I think that she ran an absolutely stunning, incredible race,” Ocasio-Cortez told Meyers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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She also told Meyers that she believed Election Day turnout among younger voters would be key if Democrats hope to deny President Trump a second term.
“It is going to be now and in November, I believe, turnout of young people that will have a huge determination in our future as a country,” she said, according to The Daily Beast. “And this is an enormous responsibility. And we’ve got to really, really turn up or else—you get what you fight for. And you get what you vote for. And I think it’s so incredibly important that we fight for a future that will work for us.”
