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28-Year-Old Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Wins Primary, Backing Medicare for All & Abolishing ICE

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ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, yeah. Well, I think that it's profoundly important. Our communities -- all communities in the United States deserve representation in Congress. And it wasn't just about, you know, having a representative, an ethnic representative, but also having a policy representative. And that's why, you know, I was proud to run a campaign that was, I think, one of the strongest campaigns for advocacy for Puerto Rico and as well as immigration reform. So, I think that those voices and those positions are badly needed in Congress today. And I look forward to kind of ushering an era of greater representation and diversity, not just in identity, but also in policy, in Congress.

AMY GOODMAN: You are, Alexandria, a Democratic Socialist, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. What does that mean to you? And can you also talk about, having worked for Bernie Sanders, what his campaign has meant and the example you're using?

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, absolutely. Well, for me, one of the things that democratic socialism means is that, in a modern society, where we have the resources and the capacity to ensure that every person can be duly educated, can have access to healthcare, and that we can afford and have the ability to house people in our economy, that a moral society guarantees a basic level of dignity for people in the United States of America. And that's what that means to me. That's what my values are.

As far as the Sanders campaign, I think that what the Sanders campaign and working on the Sanders campaign did for me was that it showed that a grassroots movement is still possible in the United States. And I organized on the Sanders campaign in the Bronx. And in knocking on those doors two years ago, I knew that our community was ready for this change. And I believed that, you know, we really needed to have that representation, that dignity, and representation that was not compromised by corporate interests, so that we could fully advocate for working families.

JUAN GONZÃ LEZ: And, of course, your victory is a stunner across the country, but also another fellow organizer in the Sanders campaign, Ben Jealous, as you know, that have heard --

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah.

JUAN GONZÃ LEZ: -- also won the primary, Democratic primary, in Maryland in the race for governor. Have you heard at all from Ben Jealous at all in the last -- in the last 12, 13 hours?

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: I have not. That's not to say that they haven't reached out. Honestly, I have 500 text messages in my phone. But I greatly, greatly look forward to a Governor Jealous, because it is so badly what we need for our future.

AMY GOODMAN: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, if you are elected to Congress, you will be the youngest woman ever elected. Talk about Mother's Day.

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the moment you walked into your opponent's headquarters and challenged him to a debate, and what that meant.

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, well, you know, we were being ignored, and our campaign was being ignored. But, moreover, I had felt like the community was -- badly wanted a debate. The community badly wanted to have the experience of a full democracy and a full primary, which included a robust -- you know, a robust conversation between both candidates. And so, I hadn't even -- it wasn't in the plan, but we were knocking doors in the area, and I turned the corner, and my opponent's office was there, and so I just decided to walk in and ask for a debate. And to his credit, he did agree to one on NY1. And we were able to provide that experience and that conversation, not just on television, but ultimately we also had one debate, one local community debate, in Queens. And it was so lively. And the people here in New York, that have not had a primary in 14 years, I think, really cherished the opportunity to speak and see their leadership debate right in front of them.

AMY GOODMAN: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, you talked about justice for Puerto Rico. What does that look like?

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think, first and foremost, we have to support the Marshall Plan in front of Congress right now for Puerto Rico. We need to ensure that we not just have a sustainable recovery, but a community-led recovery in which all of our resources aren't necessarily just being privatized to the same corporations and Wall Street funders that manufactured the crisis to begin with. I think that what we need to do is re-examine the Jones Act, talk about lifting the Merchant Marine tax, talk about ending the colonial state of Puerto Rico that has led to the economic, you know, subjugation of the people there and the second-class citizenship of Puerto Ricans in the United States.

JUAN GONZÃ LEZ: I wanted to ask you -- you grew up in the Bronx, but when you left -- after finishing college, you went to work back in your community in early childhood education. Could you talk about your experiences there and how that shaped your view of what federal policies should be when it comes to education?

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, I think we -- I mean, coming from an educational background, we know that early childhood is so formative and critical to the destinies of young children in the South Bronx and any community that is dealing with intergenerational poverty. And so, what we know is that not just when we invest in children, but when we invest in the prosperity of their families, so parents aren't working two jobs in order to support their children and that they're able to really provide for their families in one dignified form of employment, they spend that time -- they spend more of that time with their kids. They spend more of that time investing not just in their own families, but also in their own schools. And if we are going to really transform the destinies of children in places like the Bronx, we need to make sure that their parents are taken care of and that their schools are fully funded.

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