OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Democrat New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez does not want to answer questions about her future political ambitions, even if it means calling her life into question.
In an interview with GQ the horrifying prospect of Ocasio-Cortez becoming president in the future was mentioned, but the representative played cagey.
“Sometimes little girls will say, ‘Oh, I want you to be president,’ or things like that,” she said to the interviewer when asked if she believed that a woman would ever become president.
“It’s very difficult for me to talk about because it provokes a lot of inner conflict in that I never want to tell a little girl what she can’t do. And I don’t want to tell young people what is not possible. I’ve never been in the business of doing that. But at the same time…” she said before slowing her speech.
“I hold two contradictory things [in mind] at the same time. One is just the relentless belief that anything is possible,” the representative said.
“But at the same time, my experience here has given me a front-row seat to how deeply and unconsciously, as well as consciously, so many people in this country hate women. And they hate women of color. People ask me questions about the future. And realistically, I can’t even tell you if I’m going to be alive in September,” she said dramatically.
“And that weighs very heavily on me. And it’s not just the right wing. Misogyny transcends political ideology: left, right, center. This grip of patriarchy affects all of us, not just women; men, as I mentioned before, but also, ideologically, there’s an extraordinary lack of self-awareness in so many places. And so those are two very conflicting things. I admit to sometimes believing that I live in a country that would never let that happen,” she said.
She also thought about her opposition to Wall Street and how that would affect her financing.
“Could Obama have gotten elected without the kind of financial support that he had?” she said. “I don’t know.”
“There are still plenty of limitations,” she said. “It’s tough, it’s really tough.”
She went on to complain about how slow Congress moves.
“Congress does not move first, it does not move early, it moves last. That is why we have never codified the right to bodily autonomy. It’s why we have never legislatively codified same-sex marriage or marriage equality, and a whole bunch of other things, contraception, none of that. Because it’s easier to just let the courts do it,” the representative said.
“We’re going to need robust mass movements that have already started. We’ve seen it in the labor movement, we’ve seen it in racial justice, and we’re going to need to continue to build that while also ensuring that we are staving off the very real threat of fascism in losing the House or Senate,” she said.
The Washington Examiner added:
Ocasio-Cortez is considered to be a top contender for the Democrats’ 2024 presidential nomination should President Joe Biden choose not to run for a second term in office. Former 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry said he believes someone like Ocasio-Cortez who is an outspoken liberal woman of color could be elected nationally.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), another former presidential candidate who has said he would support a Biden 2024 run, said Ocasio-Cortez seems “destined to inherit the leadership” of the Democratic Party.
President Ocasio-Cortez. Imagine that.
That could be why she would not commit to supporting President Joe Biden in 2024 when she was interviewed in June.
“I just want to ask about President Biden. He is saying he’s going to run again in 2024. Will you support him?” host CNN host Dana Bash asked.
“You know, if the president chooses to run again in 2024 — I mean, first of all, I’m focused on winning this majority right now and preserving a majority this year in 2022,” the representative said.
“So we will cross that bridge when we get to it. But I think, if the president has a vision, then that’s something certainly we’re all willing to entertain and examine when the time comes,” she said.
“That’s not a yes,” the host said.
“Yes, I think we should endorse when we get to it,” the representative said. “But I believe that the president has been doing a very good job so far. And should he run again, I think that — I think it’s — we will take a look at it. But, right now, we need to focus on winning a majority, instead of a presidential election,” she said.
