Ocasio-Cortez jabs ‘plutocratic’ late entrants to 2020 field

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took a shot at unnamed “plutocratic, long-shot, very-late presidential bids” Thursday amid former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s (D) announcement he was entering the race and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s preparation to do so.

{mosads}“Call me radical, but maybe instead of setting ablaze hundreds of millions of dollars on multiple plutocratic, long-shot, very-late presidential bids, we instead invest hundreds of millions into winning majorities of state legislatures across the United States? Just a thought!” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Thursday.

Call me radical, but maybe instead of setting ablaze hundreds of millions of dollars on multiple plutocratic, long-shot, very-late presidential bids, we instead invest hundreds of millions into winning majorities of state legislatures across the United States?

Just a thought!

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 14, 2019

Patrick, who went on to work at Bain Capital, the Boston-based private investment firm founded by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), announced his entry, banking on reports that centrist elements of the party are losing faith in former Vice President Joe Biden and seeking an alternative.

Bloomberg, who plans to enter several late races after sitting out the early primaries and caucuses, is expected to appeal to similar elements.

Billionaire Tom Steyer, meanwhile, has been in the race since July but entered several months after most of the candidates and was the most recent entrant into the field until Patrick’s announcement.

Ocasio-Cortez joined Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) in endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) earlier this fall, while the fourth member of the “squad” of progressive freshman congresswomen, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), endorsed Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) earlier this month.

Both Sanders and Warren have been top targets in recent weeks from their centrist and moderate competitors in the crowded Democratic field, including Biden and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.