Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has issued a dire warning to her party about the chaos that could ensue if they succeed in pushing President Joe Biden off the ticket. And she criticized Democrats who’ve given off-the-record quotes that suggest the party has resigned itself to a second Trump term.
In an Instagram Live video on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez warned liberals that a brokered convention could lead to chaos, in part because she says some of the Democratic “elites” who want Biden out also don’t want Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee in his place.
“If you think that is going to be an easy transition, I’m here to tell you that a huge amount of the donor class and these elites who are pushing for the president not to be the nominee also do not want to see the VP be the nominee,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez claimed none of the people she’s spoken with who are calling on Biden to drop out — including lawmakers and legal experts — have articulated a plan to swap out the nominee without minimizing the serious legal and procedural challenges that are likely to ensue.
Ocasio-Cortez also highlighted the racial, ethnic and class divisions that appear to have formed between the majority of those pining to blow up the ticket — led mostly by white Democrats and media pundits — and those elected officials who feel they and their constituents have too much at stake to upend the process at this point and so are willing to do the work to re-elect Biden-Harris. She alluded to this cultural divide in her video when she spoke out against anonymous sources expressing a sense of fatalism on behalf of Democrats about what might happen if Biden remains on the ticket:
What I will say is what upsets me is [Democrats] saying we will lose. For me, to a certain extent, I don’t care what name is on there. We are not losing. I don’t know about you, but my community does not have the option to lose. My community does not have the luxury of accepting loss in July of an election year. My people are the first ones deported. They’re the first ones put in Rikers. They’re the first ones whose families are killed by war.
I didn’t and didn’t need to. I’m voting for his administration. Not him. I’m voting AGAINST Trump. Not FOR him.
That’s great and that’s what every committed Dem voter is doing. Given that the race is more about stopping Trump than anything else, wouldn’t the best way to approach that be to back the candidate who is most likely to beat him?
If you watch the debate, it’s abundantly clear that Biden is not that candidate. Things like optics and vibes shouldn’t matter in an election, especially when the other side’s policy positions are as abhorrent as Project 2025. Unfortunately, when it comes to courting votes in battleground states, they do matter.
Yes, Harris is articulate and assertive. She is clearly a better choice. The public wants someone sharp and focused. While I believe Biden is a capable president, public image affects votes whether we like it or not. Currently, his image has many Democrats feeling discouraged, though they would likely still vote for him. However, I think Harris can change that once she starts campaigning.
And I’ll back whoever they put up against Trump. I don’t care about Biden. I care about not having Trump.
It isn’t about who you vote for. It’s about who everybody else is voting for.
The Democrats were never worried about the “vote blue, no matter who” crowd. They’re worried about independents, and the polls were saying that Biden would lose. If there were enough voters who would vote for anybody with a D next to their name, this wouldn’t even be a question.