Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is up for a second term to represent New York’s 14th District, bragged that the progressive movement has “radicalized” millennials.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is up for a second term to represent New York's 14th District, bragged that the progressive movement has "radicalized" millennials.
After being introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders, she said:
"When I first got to Congress, and for progressives especially it can feel very lonely depending on the class that you're in, and we're entering this system that is stacked up against working people and progressive candidates." She said that Peter Welch passed her a note on that first day in the Oversight Committee, and "it was just one of the kindest gestures that I had ever had on my first time getting into Congress."
She said that Welch passing her the note "speaks truly to what this movement, what progressivism is all about, which is—and I also think it's our strategic advantage, in that while the other guys are sharing lobbyists, and they're sharing big money, and that's just kind of what they're sharing, we're kind of sharing this unconditional support of one another in the fight for justice.
"That kind of commitment is so unpredictable to monied interests that they really don't really know what to do with it. You can't buy it, you can't really, you can't really dismantle it, because the whole principle is if we're fighting shoulder to shoulder in the pursuit of justice nothing can break us up.
"No amount of money, no amount of cynicism, and I'm so absolutely thrilled that this movement is not only succeeding but that it's growing." She mentioned some of the progressives that are up for election this year, and those that are her colleagues in the House, including members of her "squad," Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib.
"We're winning," she said, "we're doing this thing, and as crazy as the present moment can feel, and as much work as we have to do, y'know, I'm already tired for all the work that we have to do no matter what the outcome, but the fact of the matter is that the momentum is on our side, and that we're winning, and that we've won the generational argument, and that millennials are radicalized and Gen Z is out here with class consciousness and I truly believe that we're winning this and I couldn't be more excited."
This wouldn't be the first time that AOC has called upon people to allow themselves to be radicalized. In September, she told constituents that "we're not going back to brunch," and said "let this moment radicalize you."
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