Self-proclaimed Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rebuked Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) after the senator warned Democrats shouldn't move too far to the left.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked Duckworth on Sunday if she thought Ocasio-Cortez was the future of the Democratic party.
"I think it's the future of the party in the Bronx, where she is," Duckworth said. "I think that you can’t win the White House without the Midwest, and I don’t think you can go too far to the left and still win the Midwest."
This prompted Ocasio-Cortez, who upset incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley (D., N.Y.) in a primary last week, to respond to Duckworth's comment.
"With respect to the Senator, strong, clear advocacy for working class Americans isn’t just for the Bronx," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in addition to the Midwestern states that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) won during the 2016 Democratic primary. "We then lost several of those states in the general. What’s the plan to prevent a repeat?"
With respect to the Senator, strong, clear advocacy for working class Americans isn’t just for the Bronx.
Sen. Sanders won:
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Wisconsin
- IndianaWe then lost several of those states in the general. What’s the plan to prevent a repeat? https://t.co/99K08qr7SH
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 1, 2018
The fresh-faced candidate has been at the center of attention in the Democratic Party since her surprising upset in last week's primary against Crowley, a 10-term congressman and member of the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives.
Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic Socialists of America member and has been asked several times how she defines Democratic Socialism. In all of her responses, she argues that in a rich country like the United States, no person should be "too poor to live."
"First of all, there's a huge difference between socialism and Democratic socialism," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Democratic socialism, and really what that boils down to me, is the basic belief that I believe that in a moral and wealthy America and a moral and modern America, no person should be too poor to live in this country."
During 2015 when Sanders was giving Hillary Clinton a competitive fight for the nomination, top Democrats were asked to differentiate a Democrat and a socialist. They all struggled to do so.