Make it prime time Debut at the Democratic National Convention, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on Monday evening made a stirring call for nominated Vice President Kamala Harris and “implement an ambitious agenda for the people.”
“We are choosing a new path and opening the door to a new day, a day for the people and by the people,” she said.
In a marked departure from her 90-second introduction to Senator Bernie Sanders at the 2020 DNC, Ocasio-Cortez received a prime-time speaking slot on the first night of this year’s DNCOcasio-Cortez, who was first elected in 2018, reminded Democrats of her own working-class roots and said Republicans wanted her to “go back to being a bartender.”
“Ever since I was elected, Republicans have attacked me, telling me I should go back to bartending,” she said. “But I tell you, I’m happy to do that, any day of the week, because there’s nothing wrong with working for a living. Imagine if there were politicians in the White House who understood that, politicians like Kamala and Tim.”
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Ocasio-Cortez described Harris as someone who “understands the urgency of rent checks, food and medicine.”
“I’m here tonight because America has a rare and precious opportunity before it,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “With Kamala Harris, we have a chance to elect a president who is for the middle class because she is from the middle class.”
Ocasio-Cortez also lashed out at former President Donald Trump, drawing thunderous applause when she called him a “little union-buster” and said he would “sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own pockets and bribing his friends on Wall Street.”
“The truth is, Don, you can’t love your country if all you’re fighting for is the rich and big business,” she said. “To love this country is to fight for its people, for all the people, for working people, for everyday Americans like bartenders and factory workers and fast-food cashiers who work a time clock and are on their feet all day, doing some of the toughest jobs there are.”
But amid applause and cheers for Harris, Ocasio-Cortez said Harris had “worked tirelessly to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and bring the hostages home.”
