In a recent TIME magazine interview, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. surprised political observers — and experts say it’s good news for President Donald Trump.
Ocasio-Cortez has been a firebrand, uncompromising force in far-left politics since arriving in Washington, D.C. in 2018. Now, in the face of Trump’s re-election in 2020, she’s calling for compromise and unity among Democrats.
AOC is telling her far-left supporters to back whichever Democrat prevails from the 2020 primary race, “no matter who it is.”
Her comments made headlines just as the disastrous Democratic Iowa caucuses crawl to an embarrassing end — because the only thing certain is that Trump will be on the ballot in November.
Ocasio-Cortez, it seems, shows she’s nervous about Trump’s electability.
Her call for Democratic unity is a dramatic shift in tone from her typically extreme, uncompromising progressive stances.
Earlier this year she called Democratic moderates the “Tea Party of the left,” and attacked former Vice President Joe Biden.
On the other hand, Ocasio-Cortez has firmly endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-V.T., who was gaining momentum heading into the much-anticipated Hawkeye State showdown.
Ocasio-Cortez’s support for Sanders came to many as no surprise — the two are both Democratic Socialists that have been disruptive to the nucleus of the party. Nearly a year ago, Ocasio-Cortez threatened to blacklist centrist Democrats. Hillary Clinton recently claimed that “nobody” in the party likes Bernie.
Ocasio-Cortez is aware that rank and file Democrats could be working to sabotage Sanders.
Perhaps Ocasio-Cortez is less a call for unity — and more a demand that Democrats quickly rally behind her preferred candidate, should Sanders win Iowa.
“The moment you start playing games trying to deny whoever is the nominee, we really start to get into dangerous territory in terms of defeating Trump,” she said.
“Bernie has said this,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “I absolutely believe this: whoever gets the nomination, we have to rally behind them, no matter who it is. And I would hope that everybody would do so if Bernie is the nominee as well.”
The Horn editorial team