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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said on Wednesday that “white supremacist sympathizers” sit the heart of the House’s GOP caucus and that their increasingly extremist views have gone unchecked with “no consequences” from House leadership.
“It increasingly seems, unfortunately, that in the House Republican caucus, Kevin McCarthy answers to these QAnon members of Congress, not the other way around,” Ocasio-Cortez told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes in an interview Wednesday night.
“There are no consequences in the Republican caucus for violence. No consequences for racism. No consequences for misogyny. No consequences for insurrection. And no consequences means that they condone it. It means that that silence is acceptance,' says @AOC. pic.twitter.com/4jkKfb718K
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) January 28, 2021
Ocasio-Cortez lived with her family in an apartment in the Bronx neighborhood of Parkchester until she was five, when the family moved to a house in suburban Yorktown Heights. Ocasio-Cortez attended Yorktown High School, graduating in 2007. In high school and college, Ocasio-Cortez went by the name of 'Sandy Ocasio'. Dec 18, 2020 Outspoken socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was soundly defeated in her bid for a seat on the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee, losing out to fellow New York Democrat Kathleen Rice after some criticized AOC’s support for liberal primary challenges to sitting incumbent Democrats.
The comments come after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) suggested that he would talk to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-GA) in light of reports that the newly-elected lawmaker had endorsed executing Democrats in social media posts.
Those posts, first reported by CNN, included calls for assassination of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and executing FBI agents.
Ocasio-Cortez said on Wednesday that the top House Republican hadn’t gone far enough in taking seriously the threat of such behavior because it was a “core animating political energy” for the GOP base.
“When I hear that Rep. McCarthy is going to pull a member aside who has made white supremacist-sympathizing comments, the thing I think is: What is he going to tell them? Keep it up?” she said.
“Because there are no consequences in the Republican caucus for violence. There’s no consequences for racism. No consequences for misogyny. No consequences for insurrection. And no consequences means that they condone it. It means that that silence is acceptance,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Ocasio-Cortez was among the lawmakers who sheltered in place when a mob of former President Trump’s supported stormed the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.
Days after the deadly riot, the New York lawmaker described thinking she “was going to die” during the Jan. 6 attack and feeling unsafe among “white supremacist members of Congress” who she feared might disclose her location and allow her to be hurt or kidnapped.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), in an interview published by Vanity Fair Wednesday, discussed the possibility of her political career extending beyond the House, saying 'I don't see myself really staying where I'm at for the rest of my life.'
'I don't know if I'm really going to be staying in the House forever, or if I do stay in the House, what that would look like,' she told Vanity Fair. 'I don't see myself really staying where I'm at for the rest of my life.'
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However, she added that she does not 'want to aspire to a quote-unquote higher position just for the sake of that title or just for the sake of having a different or higher position.'
'I truly make an assessment to see if I can be more effective,' the first-term lawmaker continued. 'And so, you know, I don't know if I could necessarily be more effective in an administration, but, for me, that's always what the question comes down to.'
Ocasio-Cortez, who first entered Congress in 2019 after unseating longtime incumbent Joseph Crowley, has been thought to be a potential future primary opponent for Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in 2022 or Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in 2024.
The New York congresswoman's alignment with other prominent progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), could also land her support among the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party in a presidential bid, although Ocasio-Cortez would not meet the constitutional age requirement of 35 until November 2024.
President Trump has commented on the possibility of Ocasio-Cortez unseating Schumer, writing in a June tweet 'that would be a big improvement- and she would win!'
However, Trump has taken aim at Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive members of Congress, repeatedly claiming that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is being steered by the more liberal party members.
In May, the Biden campaign brought the congresswoman on to serve as co-chairwoman of the Biden-Sanders joint task force to advise the Biden campaign on climate change policy.
Ocasio-Cortez had backed Sanders during his 2020 presidential campaign.
During an interview on CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez said that before battling over specific policy proposals, Democrats and young voters have to prioritize helping Biden win the presidential election, saying it will be a 'luxury' to be able to lobby a Democratic administration.
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However, when asked if Sanders should be offered a cabinet position if Biden wins, Ocasio-Cortez said it will be 'critically important that the Biden administration appoint progressive leaders.'