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Las Vegas, Nevada (CNN) — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday didn’t reserve her criticism for Republicans while calling for change, saying Democrats need a party that “fights harder” for them.
“This isn’t just about Republicans. We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us too,” Ocasio-Cortez said to applause. “But what that means is that we as a community must choose and vote for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class.”
The comments from the progressive New York Democrat highlight tensions within the party as many call for a stronger strategy to counter President Donald Trump. Ocasio-Cortez spoke as she joined independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for the start of a West Coast swing of his cross-country “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
Trump, she said, “handed the keys to Elon Musk and is selling this country for parts to the richest people on the planet for a kickback. In exchange, they will bankroll his campaigns and those of his allies.”
Sanders, for his part, criticized a familiar target – the wealthiest Americans – saying the richest among them “have fun flying off into outer space on their very own spaceships.”
“And maybe they should stay there,” he added.
Sanders, accusing Republicans of targeting Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and Veterans benefits, concluded that the “worst addiction in this country today is the greed of the oligarchy.”
“They are like heroin addicts – they need more and more and more,” he said. “And if they destroy Social Security and Medicaid to get what they want, that is what they will do.”
With more than 18 months until the midterm elections, Democratic fury at party leadership — particularly in the Senate — has been on display in recent days in the wake of a contentious fight over government funding in Congress.
Much of the frustration among Democrats has been aimed at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for paving the way for passage of a Trump-backed spending bill. Schumer has defended his decision, arguing that while he opposed the bill, a government shutdown would have led to even worse consequences.
The rally by the progressive duo of Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez is an attempt to channel at least some of that fury, which has been bursting into public at town hall events in Republican and Democratic districts alike this week. And it’s a blueprint that the Sanders team hopes national Democrats will follow.
In a five-page memo Wednesday, which was obtained by CNN, Sanders’ chief political operative Faiz Shakir described a “populist revolt” nationwide that Democrats are failing to capture. It touted Sanders’ use of tactics like in-person events in five different GOP-held House seats and direct-to-camera videos with a million-plus views – rather than “chasing social media trends.”
Rallygoers gathered outside of a North Las Vegas amphitheater on Thursday to see Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez.
Stacy Short was in line with her 19-year-old son Bryce, who was born with a rare autoimmune disorder and relies on Medicaid to cover his $25,000-a-month medication. Short is worried about cuts to government services.
“If those cuts happen and he loses those benefits, I don’t know what we’re going to do to keep him healthy so he can live his life,” she said.
Short argued that Democrats need to do more to fight back against the Trump agenda.
“I wish I could say I was proud of my party for standing in front of buildings and getting arrested,” she said. “I wasn’t there, but it reminds me of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and I just want to know who’s our MLK here? Who’s getting arrested in the streets? Who’s sitting down and saying, ‘No, I’m not moving because you’re not getting in this building. Because you don’t need to be here.’”
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez head next to Tempe, Arizona, before making stops in Denver and Greeley, Colorado and Tucson, Arizona.
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