Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is dismissing the idea that former Vice President Joe Biden is the best Democrat to take on President Trump.
“I think that he’s not a pragmatic choice,” Ocasio-Cortez says.
In a lengthy profile on the freshman progressive lawmaker published in Vogue on Wednesday, Ocasio-Cortez said her concerns around Biden are similar to issues former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had in 2016.
{mosads}”If you pick the perfect candidate like Joe Biden to win that guy in the diner, the cost will make you lose because you will depress turnout as well,” she said. “And that’s exactly what happened to 2016. We picked the logically fitting candidate, but that candidate did not inspire the turnout that we needed.”
Ocasio-Cortez said her “frustration with politics today” stems from candidates’ desire to sacrifice the electorate as a whole for “that dude in a diner.”
“Just so that you can get this very specific slice of Trump voters?” she asked.
Ocasio-Cortez has stayed relatively quiet regarding the crowded Democratic primary field.
She was an organizer on Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) upstart campaign in 2016, but has declined to endorse him or any other candidates so far.
As a champion of the Green New Deal, Ocasio-Cortez has helped drive the conversation around climate change for 2020 candidates, with several supporting the measure.
Biden is seen as the front-runner in the crowded field, outpacing Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in virtually all the national polls.