Critics blast Rep. Ocasio-Cortez for leaving Biden out of convention speech

The New York Post reports Rep. Ocasio-Cortez nominates Bernie Sanders and snubs Joe Biden in DNC address; Former Obama campaign spokesperson Zach Friend reacts on ‘America’s Newsroom.’

Critics blast Rep. Ocasio-Cortez for leaving Biden out of convention speech. The New York Post reports Rep. Ocasio-Cortez nominates Bernie Sanders and snubs Joe Biden in DNC address; Former Obama. Barack Obama Says DNC Should Give Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a Bigger Platform as Feud Between Progressives and Centrists Grows Katherine Fung 12/2/2020 Tense Virginia gun rally draws everyone from.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is running for reelection in the state’s 14th district, after an astonishing rise in political popularity following her grassroots campaign in the 2018 election cycle.

While Ocasio-Cortez is largely favored to win the race, it has become the second most-expensive House race in the U.S., as reported by The New York Times.

Ocasio-Cortez is running against Bronx, N.Y., native John Cummings, who served as a school teacher in the area, as well as a member of the New York Police Department.

Here are three things to know about Ocasio-Cortez:

Youngest woman elected to Congress

Ocasio Cortez Dnc Speech

After Ocasio-Cortez won her seat in the House of Representatives in 2018, she went on to become the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress at the age of 29.

Her win in the June 2018 primary, where she unseated 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley, was considered a political upset.

Prior to her candidacy, Ocasio-Cortez was a waitress and a bartender and has publicly talked about her working-class roots. She is the daughter of Puerto Rican parents.

Democratic socialist

Ocasio-Cortez is a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, who has aligned herself closely with many of the policies of Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and had previously endorsed Sanders for president while he was running.

She has supported 'Medicare-for-all,' free college tuition, student loan forgiveness, the Green New Deal and a 70% marginal tax rate on the wealthiest Americans.

The Squad

Ocasio-Cortez has also become known as a member of the so-called “Squad” in Congress, which includes Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.

President Trump regularly uses the term, referring to the progressive group of first-term minority female lawmakers who sometimes challenge the ideas of House Speaker Nancy Pelosr, D-Calif., and the Democratic establishment.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested in a new interview that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer should no longer lead Democrats in Congress, and complained that the party had failed at grooming a “next generation” of younger lawmakers to succeed them.

“I do think that we need new leadership in the Democratic Party,” Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told The Intercept in an interview published Wednesday. Spokespeople for Pelosi and Schumer did not immediately return an email seeking comment on Ocasio-Cortez’s interview.

The remarks from the freshman congresswoman and superstar of the party’s left wing represented her most direct criticism yet of Pelosi and Schumer, and come as Democrats are locked in a fierce debate over their broader message following a disappointing showing in 2020 congressional races across the country.

Schumer, who is 70 years old, was reelected as leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus last month, and Pelosi is positioned to be reelected as speaker in January — all but ensuring the House Democratic Caucus will continue to be governed by the same octogenarian triumvirate that has occupied the party’s top three leadership roles for the past 14 years: the 80-year-old Pelosi, 81-year-old House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and 80-year-old House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.).

Pelosi has indicated her next term as speaker will be her last, but Ocasio-Cortez lamented in the interview that even the party’s more moderate members have struggled to produce “viable alternatives” to challenge her leadership. “I think one of the things that I have struggled with — I think that a lot of people struggle with — is [that] the internal dynamics of the House has made it such that there’s very little option for succession, if you will,” she said.

Ocasio Cortez Dance

Alexandria Ocasio-cortez Dnc Convention

Video: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulates Biden (ABC News)

Alexandria Ocasio-cortez Dnc