Ocasio-Cortez: Trump ‘is afraid of strong women, of Latino women’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said in a new interview that President Trump is “afraid of strong women” and “Latino women.”

During the “Noticias Telemundo” interview that aired Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez said, “If the president thinks I am crazy … It would actually be a problem if he would agree with my ideas.” 

“He has a lot of problems: he is a racist, he is anti-immigrant and more than that… his administration is corrupt. He has a track record: he is afraid of strong women, of Latino women, he is unethical,” she continued. 

“I think everyone knows what he believes. It is not good for such a diverse country to have such an intolerant president,” she added.

The interview took place in Las Vegas, where Ocasio-Cortez hosted an event called “Unidos Con Bernie Reunión Política con Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez” in support for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential run. 

Ocasio-Cortez also said it was more important that Sanders win in next year’s presidential race than Trump lose.  

“This president was elected for a reason with which I disagree,” she said in translated text of the interview. “There were many economic problems, opportunities … and those were the reasons to choose it. He hasn’t fixed them, but I think the themes of this Bernie campaign are positive, not negative.”

Ahead of the Las Vegas event, Ocasio-Cortez, who has said in the past that she is still working on improving her Spanish, tweeted that she was “nervous” about the “all-Spanish town hall.”

“I’m nervous for this all-Spanish town hall, but I also know that the only way I’m going to improve my Spanish is by practicing it!” she tweeted.

I’m nervous for this all-Spanish town hall, but I also know that the only way I’m going to improve my Spanish is by practicing it!
–
Nevada: Únete a nosotros este Domingo para un… town hall(?) en Español, y probablemente con un poquito de “spanglish” también ⬇️ https://t.co/nj4WezQZXN

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 18, 2019

During her interview on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez also discussed the importance for her and first- or second- generation Hispanic Americans to learn how to speak Spanish.

“If we are first- or second-generation, it is important that we cultivate our language. I must speak and practice more to improve my own Spanish. Our language is the link with our families and our communities,” she said.

She also touched briefly on her time working as a community organizer for Sanders in the Bronx before going on to seek higher office.

“I was a community organizer in the Bronx for Sen. Sanders during the last presidential campaign,” she said. “That was my first experience organizing right there in the street for an election.”

“Before that, I did community work in education, with the Latino community and with the National Hispanic Institute, but that was my first time organizing for an election. It was an experience that I will never forget,” she continued. “It was an important part of my experience when I decided to run for Congress. I learned that there was another way of doing politics here in the U.S.”

“Last year I worked in a taqueria, as a waitress and as a bartender, and now I am a congresswoman,” she also said. “That is a huge change. But my values are the same. And we are saying the same thing we were saying last year: that we must fight for working families, for health insurance, for education for all children and a fair salary.”

— This report was updated at 8:08 a.m.