New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a powerful rebuke against President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, pointing out why mocking things like affordable housing and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "Democrat priorities" ultimately hurts Republicans.
Ocasio-Cortez, speaking during a CNN town hall alongside Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, accused Republicans of refusing to work to end the government shutdown, stressing that the country’s health care system could collapse if Republicans refuse to meet Democrats’ demands in negotiations.
Both Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders insisted they would not vote to fund the government unless the Republican majority agreed to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, a declaration that the White House has ridiculed.
But Ocasio-Cortez said that all the harping from the GOP about "Democratic priorities" only hurts them:
"This administration is making a foolish mistake by saying investments in housing and in energy are so-called 'Democrat priorities.' Cutting the EPA is a 'Democrat priority.' You know what this country looked like before the EPA? Rivers in rural areas were on fire because of corporations poisoning the people who lived in those areas."
"Poor, middle class communities getting poisoned and dumped on by corporations like Deloitte [Dupont] and 3M pouring chemicals into these places and they want to call it a Democratic priority."
"And that's why they want to eliminate the FDA. Well, you know what, you're damn well right that it's a Democratic priority to keep people from getting poisoned from identifying dangerous chemicals that are dumped and causing cancer in people without their knowledge."
"You're damn right that it's a Democratic priority to bring down the cost of housing and mortgages and rent, and you're damn right that it's a democratic priority to raise the minimum wage in this country, to allow people to get a fair shot at the American dream."
"If they want to say that that's a Democratic priority, they're right, and they are targeting all of us with this. And so I do think it's important for us to remember that and that these priorities are actually not partisan at all."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Many concurred with her remarks.
Both Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders blasted House GOP leaders—particularly Speaker Mike Johnson—for keeping the chamber out of session for the past four weeks. Ocasio-Cortez said she has "never seen people who hate working so much in my life."
Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats contended that House Speaker Mike Johnson was keeping the House from returning to Washington to avoid triggering a vote on a bill that would force the release of the Epstein files.
Republican leaders denied the claim, insisting their decision had nothing to do with the files, in which President Donald Trump is widely believed to feature. They argued that the House had already passed a seven-week funding bill and that reconvening in Washington would only ease the pressure on Senate Democrats to accept their current proposal.
Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders say ultimately what the GOP claims doesn't matter because they need to come to Washington in the first place if they want to see a resolution to the healthcare standoff at all.
