Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is trying to find a way to power in her party.
The New York Democrat is more seasoned than when the first Trump administration exploded into the national scene. Ocasio-Cortez, who was elected as a surprise in 2018, was a progressive rebel, a democratic socialist, a frequent critic of her own party, and a social media sense. She is also a leading character on Fox News, and the conservatives loved to hate.
Seven years later, she remained an independent public figure, and he also developed relationships within Congress with Democrats and some Republicans. At 35, she is a veteran lawmaker.
We sat with Ocasio-Cortez this week shortly after House Democrats managed the show of unity. They all voted against the Republican budget plan. We talked about her party’s path to political recovery.
Here are some important points to consider when interviewing video.
She believes that early moves by Republicans hurt them.
“The Republicans are making certain big mistakes right now,” she said, predicting that Medicaid’s $880 billion cut would affect health care for many voters, and that the president’s bid to fire many federal workers would degrade critical services.
She is still defending people without legal status.
Since the election defeat, some Democrats have suggested that their party needs a new approach to immigration. Many voters viewed the administration of Biden as too loose for the people of the United States who have no legal status.
Ocasio-Cortez claims she still supports the path to citizenship. And she publicly rebutted with President Trump’s border emperor Tom Homan after holding a right seminar she knows online for those who are afraid to face immigration agents.
When threatened by the investigation, she challenged the Department of Justice to try it.
Homan told Fox News he asked the Justice Department if he was violating the law by “trying to educate people on how to avoid law enforcement.”
“I was informing all members of constitutional protections, particularly constitutional protections against illegal searches and seizures,” Ocasio-Cortez told NPR. She said she intends to ask the Department of Justice. “Well, we have members of the Trump administration who are blackmailing and trying to start an investigation. And are you going to do that?”
After the interview, Democrats sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondy, who shared it with NPR. “I am writing clearly whether the Justice Department succumbed to political pressure and whether the speeches attempt to weaponize the agency against elected officials whom the speech is opposed.”
Like Trump, she says the government doesn’t work for many people.
“It all feels more and more like a scam,” she said. “It’s like not only does it increase grocery prices, it’s like everything has fees and extra charges. And I think the government is getting angry.”
Democrats, in her view, argue that the government works very well for the wealthy, often losing ordinary people.
Unlike Trump, she doesn’t want to cut government significantly.
“I’m to the FAA? No. To the NIH? No,” she said. “In fact, I don’t want someone to have someone else’s chemotherapy and see what happens.”
She said she was open to looking into “specific things like the benefits of Medicare that I think is a scam” and to allow private insurance companies to collect additional premiums.
Reena Advani and Adam Bearne produced and edited the story for broadcast. Majd Al-Waheidi edited it for the web.
