Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez remains one of the most high-profile progressive lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
She praised Biden for his outreach to liberals, but told The Guardian he needed to continue his efforts in 2024.
The New York lawmaker told the outlet that Biden’s previous outreach “is not one and done.”
In early 2020, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ strongest backers for his then-presidential campaign, serving as a critical ally for the veteran lawmaker.
Ocasio-Cortez, with her progressive bona fides, rose in national prominence as she traveled the country and pushed for progressive policies aligned with Sanders’ political platform.
After Joe Biden defeated Sanders in the Democratic primary that year, he extended an olive branch to his former Senate colleague, along with liberals who didn’t have a longstanding relationship with him.
And after Biden entered the Oval Office, he championed many progressive positions, from new environmental regulations and student-debt reform to health policy overhauls and the appointment of a vast array of attorneys to the federal bench. Many liberals have been pleasantly surprised with Biden’s performance.
But Ocasio-Cortez, an ally of Biden who has been a strong supporter of his domestic policy agenda, still had a clear message for the president: Don’t take progressives for granted ahead of the 2024 election.
In an extensive interview with The Guardian, the New York Democrat reflected on her time in office while also looking to next year, which could feature a rematch between Biden and former President Donald Trump.
“We should be candid about the fact that his chances as the nominee are still the strongest, probably out of the entire [Republican] field, and what that means,” she told the outlet of Trump’s standing in the GOP race.
“We are not in 2020, and seeing what that turnout may look like is something that I’m sure keeps many of us up at night,” she continued. “But that being said, I know that this is why, to me, support of President Biden has been very important, because this question is larger than any policy differences. This is truly about having a strong front against fascism in the United States.”
And Ocasio-Cortez reiterated that progressive support will be critical next year, given Trump’s continued strength with conservatives across the country and the narrow margins that defined the presidential contests in key swing states.
“In 2020 the Biden campaign, after the nomination, did work very hard to unite the party,” she told The Guardian. “We’re very early still in the 2024 election cycle, but I do believe that it will be very important for President Biden’s team to once again engage in that coalition-building because it is not one and done.”