MS NOW EXCLUSIVE — AOC warns Dems on new progressive candidates: Hear them out.

[0:00] Joining me now is Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. [0:04] Congresswoman, thank you for being here with me tonight. [0:06] Thank you for having me. [0:08] Let me start by just a lot of people, not just in New York, but across the country. [0:13] There have been a lot of takes, shall we say, are trying to make sense of what the elections meant, [0:18] what they mean for the Democratic Party. [0:20] What do you think they mean? [0:21] You know, I think that these elections mean, of course, [0:25] they are reflections of the constituencies and communities that elected them. [0:30] And that rendered them. [0:31] And I can say absolutely, at least in the city of New York, [0:36] voters are just really ready for a Democratic Party that stands for something [0:45] and has a very strong agenda to make our lives easier, [0:49] to tackle corruption, to lower costs, to make health care a right for every American, [0:57] to raise wages, to make unionizing easier in the workplace. [1:02] And they want to make a forceful statement in how badly they want to see us fight for that. [1:09] And I think that in any robust year for Democrats, [1:15] I believe you're going to see an expansion of a party and a deepening of our commitment. [1:21] And so I actually think that these results are a very good sign for November. [1:28] To your point, when I was elected in 2018, an election like mine, [1:33] where voters were willing to really, you know, trade in someone that was supposed to be the [1:41] presumptive next Speaker of the House in my predecessor and trade that in for a also a Democratic Socialist, [1:50] a new organizer at that time, [1:55] I think that that is actually an indicator of places in other parts of the country [2:01] willing to elect Democrats, even if the politics are not the same, [2:05] even if those communities don't align with those same exact agendas, [2:11] they are willing to take a chance for a better future. [2:16] And so I don't think that people should be seeing this as a zero-sum game. [2:20] I think they should be seeing it as encouraging for November. [2:22] It's interesting because even in the state of New York, and you alluded to this, [2:27] I mean, Michael Lasher, you probably don't share every opinion or position with him. [2:31] You definitely don't share every position, I don't think, with Richie Torres on a number of things. [2:37] Both of them won in primaries that night. [2:40] I mean, Michael Lasher in a very competitive one. [2:42] Do you think this is because, and I just played some of what people on the right wing are saying on television, [2:49] that this is an over-torquing of the rise of Democratic Socialism [2:53] and not enough of a focus on the broad people who won? [2:56] Or how do you see that? Because you're a Democratic Socialist yourself. [2:58] I mean, I think that the one thing that we know is that the Republican Party's brand is fear. [3:06] And they have to constantly churn what they want people to be afraid of. [3:12] To be afraid of socialists, to be afraid of immigrants, to be afraid of women, to be afraid of... [3:18] They constantly want Americans in fear of somebody. [3:23] Because if you are not afraid of someone who is your neighbor, you're going to realize who's actually pickpocketing you. [3:33] And that is the large corporations that are engaged in profiteering and jacking up your prices for no good reason. [3:43] It's going to be in this administration that is engaged in record levels of swindling, thefts, tariffs, you know, your housing. [3:52] And so this is kind of their new thing of the day. [3:55] But I think that people are feared out. [3:59] I think that the nerve, everyone's nerves are shot in constantly being taught and told of what country, person, community to be afraid of. [4:09] And they just want a solution. [4:11] They want their groceries to be more affordable. [4:13] They want to figure out how we're going to get health care. [4:15] They want our housing to get under control. [4:18] And I think that we're ready for an affirmative vision. [4:22] And we're ready for an affirmative agenda. [4:25] You talked about this week kind of how the fear-mongering, you had deja vu, I think is how you described it. [4:31] And you just alluded to that and what you just said now. [4:34] Now, what advice are you giving or would you have for these new members who are coming in and are already being painted in a certain way? [4:42] And I want to talk about them, too. [4:43] But what advice do you have for them about how to get things done while still shaking up the system at the same time? [4:49] Yeah, you know, I think new and incoming members have no shortage of advice that's being given to them. [4:58] Well, but you lived it. [4:59] Yes. [5:00] You lived it in a very different way. [5:01] Yes, and I mean, I'll get to them. [5:05] But I actually think the more important advice that I would give would be to my incumbent colleagues, which is you will create a self-fulfilling prophecy by deciding who these young women are before you've met them. [5:21] And if you are already panicking and sending little messages in your group chats about how these people need to be reined in and tamped down and shown their place, you are creating the antagonistic dynamic that we do not need. [5:41] These are two young, talented, intelligent women that got elected against all odds, against millions of dollars. [5:55] Perhaps there is something we can learn from them. [5:59] The people chose them. [6:00] And democracy and the Democratic Party is about what the people pick. [6:04] It is not about any elected official or any leader. [6:07] And I believe that. [6:10] Do you I mean, there are and I want to ask you about this because I think they are being painted in a certain way. [6:16] And Daria Liza specifically, who is going to be a member of Congress, I think people should recognize they are going to win in these districts. [6:24] She has said a couple of things, and I think for people who are watching right now, I just want to remind them of that. [6:30] She attended a pro-Palestinian rally in Times Square the day after the Hamas attacked Israel. [6:35] She said she was worried about an outsized reaction that cost thousands of people their lives. [6:40] She has not backed away from attending that rally. [6:42] She also she deleted a Twitter account that had a number of posts that called for the abolishment of police in prisons. [6:48] According to CNN in 2021, this is what there's a reference to. [6:51] She posted a world without borders, just like a world without prisons or police is possible and necessary and the only moral way forward. [6:59] She's again has said those posts don't reflect who she is today. [7:03] You do not speak for her. [7:04] You speak for yourself. [7:06] And I know she's tried to distance herself. [7:07] She's probably under a greater level of scrutiny. [7:09] She's ever been in her life. [7:11] But does any of that give you pause? [7:13] I think that, as you said, she has indicated that she has regret over the way that she made issued those statements. [7:25] And I genuinely believe that the gravity and the responsibility of this role has a way of inhabiting you. [7:38] And I genuinely believe that we have to give people the opportunity to occupy their beliefs within the gravity of becoming a duly elected member of Congress. [7:57] And I think that in the process of running for election, in the process of getting to know your constituents, it's very different than when you're only speaking as an activist or years ago or whatever that may be. [8:14] But I think where we are right now is that the people of New York's 13th district have elected her and she has she is responsible and has absolutely, I think, expressed a sense of responsibility in how she wants to lead. [8:31] And so, again, I would say I think it's important to not issue a verdict before these folks arrive. [8:41] And, you know, I went through the same thing. [8:47] I will never forget. [8:49] I had this moment. [8:50] There's you know, everyone sees the floor of the United States House of Representatives on C-SPAN or whatever. [8:55] We're casting our votes. [8:56] But there are these little rooms attached to that floor. [8:59] And it's known as a cloakroom. [9:01] And in the cloakroom is where members can rest in between votes or if you need to get a snack or something. [9:07] And they have televisions there. [9:09] And I remember my first term, I was sitting down on one of the couches and there was this big television screen. [9:17] And they're going on and on about, you know, the way that they were clipping something that I said out of context to look extreme and to look far more inflammatory than what it was and most importantly, who I am. [9:31] And I remember sitting next to a congressman, my colleague, a Democrat, sitting next to me on the same couch. [9:41] And he was looking up at that television screen in disgust and just shaking his head. [9:48] And I was sitting there right next to him. [9:51] He had never once struck up a conversation with me. [9:55] But he had made a judgment and determination of who I was. [9:59] And it was incredibly dehumanizing. [10:03] I was met with so much hostility and cruelty by the Democratic caucus when I was first elected. [10:08] And I think that it created so much more antagonism than what was necessary in that time. [10:19] And so I think that both ends of this relationship require work, right? [10:24] Both ends require a stepping up and a certain magnanimity for us all to get what we want done. [10:33] I'm an unabashed progressive and I want to guarantee health care to every American. [10:39] That's my agenda. [10:40] That's why I'm in this business. [10:42] And there are other Democrats that don't agree with me. [10:45] And that's all right. [10:47] They know what I'm after. [10:48] And I know where they're at. [10:50] But what I'm not going to do is allow my humanity to be erased. [10:56] And I don't think that these newly elected officials should have theirs erased either.