Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has issued a dire warning to her party about the chaos that could ensue if they succeed in pushing President Joe Biden off the ticket. And she criticized Democrats who’ve given off-the-record quotes that suggest the party has resigned itself to a second Trump term.
In an Instagram Live video on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez warned liberals that a brokered convention could lead to chaos, in part because she says some of the Democratic “elites” who want Biden out also don’t want Vice President Kamala Harris as the nominee in his place.
“If you think that is going to be an easy transition, I’m here to tell you that a huge amount of the donor class and these elites who are pushing for the president not to be the nominee also do not want to see the VP be the nominee,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez claimed none of the people she’s spoken with who are calling on Biden to drop out — including lawmakers and legal experts — have articulated a plan to swap out the nominee without minimizing the serious legal and procedural challenges that are likely to ensue.
Ocasio-Cortez also highlighted the racial, ethnic and class divisions that appear to have formed between the majority of those pining to blow up the ticket — led mostly by white Democrats and media pundits — and those elected officials who feel they and their constituents have too much at stake to upend the process at this point and so are willing to do the work to re-elect Biden-Harris. She alluded to this cultural divide in her video when she spoke out against anonymous sources expressing a sense of fatalism on behalf of Democrats about what might happen if Biden remains on the ticket:
What I will say is what upsets me is [Democrats] saying we will lose. For me, to a certain extent, I don’t care what name is on there. We are not losing. I don’t know about you, but my community does not have the option to lose. My community does not have the luxury of accepting loss in July of an election year. My people are the first ones deported. They’re the first ones put in Rikers. They’re the first ones whose families are killed by war.
This aged like milk
That is to be determined.
On paper, her argument is sound. There are plenty of moderates who are still not down for a female president, let alone one as outspoken as Kamala Harris.
I personally think her no-bullshit attitude is exactly what we need, but we will have to see how many people agree
I live in deep red country, and work in a deep red career field, a lot of today’s Trumpers have never forgiven Obama for being black, popular, and competent. They took it personally. Harris is going to mobilize the fuck out of them.
I think she’s the right pick, I think she can govern well, I’m voting for her 100%. But the Dems need to be prepared. This was a dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t situation for them. But replacing Biden isn’t even a fraction of the work they’re gonna have to do, and AOC is on point for speaking up about it.
It’s a good thing Diane Feinstein died, with the DNC’s history of acting under pressure she’d have been their #1 pick
Good lord, they absolutely would have gone with her.
Those Trumpers were going out to vote for him regardless of who his opponent is.
I think they were referring to if Harris beats Trump
Ah. Well, same deal either way. They’re already enraged at the world.
No bullshit attitude?
The only person that spews more bullshit than Harris is Trump.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still vote for her.
She is a shitheel, though.
Aging like milk implies that she isn’t right about what she said.
Give it until November. If the Biden replacement wins by a landslide, then sure, it will age like milk.
Otherwise, so far, it’s aging like fucking fine wine - and I’m not liking it.
Nah she specifically said that Biden being forced out and Kamala not being supported by the establishment would be bad - which makes sense because incumbency is a huge advantage
AOC for President.
Go back and watch Pelosi’s speeches from the late 70s on C-SPAN. AOC sounds exactly like her, and we’ve seen how out of touch Pelosi and all other politicians are.
That just sounds like Pelosi was straight fire in her prime. Will AOC be stale in 50 years? Maybe, or maybe she ends up a Bernie.
She gonna be a pelosi
This is a good fucking take, have to say. She very obviously knows what she’s talking about extremely well, has the best interests of those she represents at heart, and knows how to express it all clearly for the average layperson. You don’t get a lot of politicians of that caliber.
No wonder the Republicans hate her so much!
I like AOC, but do you really think she has her constituents best interest at heart if trump is leading the polls?
How does that logic make any fucking sense?
There’s a fun thing that happens when people are deep in rabbit holes. They get led to insane conclusions by a breadcrumb of bullshit, usually starting out with a semi reasonable premise.
But then sometimes when they pop out of their rabbit hole they just jump straight from A to X, without explaining the chain of bullshit that led them down to X.
It’s why Trump and other MAGAs say shit that is insane, not like as a metaphor but like stuff that has zero connection to reality, regardless of what politics you believe in. You just haven’t followed their path of increasingly absurd propositions, but they followed it because each new proposition was only slightly more out there than the last.
In this case, I suspect there was something like
(A) Trump is leading polls --> (B) Biden cannot beat trump --> (C) we need to replace Biden --> (D) replacing Biden is the best thing to do for the nation --> (E) anyone who supports Biden is acting contrary to the best interests of the nation
By this logic, the more (A) is happening, the more (E) is correct. But he skipped B through D, so it’s more clear how absurd the conclusion is because you didn’t get the frog-in-boiling-water parade of misinformation and propaganda.
My conclusion is not insane, it’s practical. I was a 100% Biden supporter, defended him vehemently. You can check my history here and in Kbin. He was my pick in 2016 (ironically though, after Kamala and Booker dropped from the race). Hell, I fucking stood up and cheered during the SOTU. My wife calls him her grandpa.
And then I watched that disastrous debate. He clearly isn’t all there anymore. And my eyes opened entirely. The signs have been there for years.
I love what he’s done for our country. I love his cabinet. I follow politics probably more than 90% of y’all here and have for decades. I was there for Bill when he won against all odds. I was decimated when Al Gore, who was probably our best shot for climate change policy, lost to Bush and Nader. And again I was spurned when Hillary lost by thin margins in swing states while trouncing the popular vote.
Hell, I’ll likely run for some office someday. How many else of you would actually belly up to the bar rather than just bluster here?
Our guy’s mind is deluded. The tip of our spear has blunted. It’s time to take grandpas keys away before he wraps our family’s only car around a lightpole.
Ah, yes, you were with him up UNTIL the debate. Would’ve been more believable if you said genocide instead, lol. Totally believable, not a flagrant lie at all. How does this argument even have to do with what you originally said?
I’ll be 100% honest with you here. My feelings on the Jewish / Palestine conflict are very mixed.
If you care about the Palestinians because you disapprove of war and genocide, then I think you should also understand that Hamas made their bed when they murdered and raped Jews at the start of the conflict. And believe me, I know the cassus belli for this have been there for even before my parents were born.
I also am aware that most of you will downvote my opinion on this matter. That’s your right, but the world is indeed nuanced, neither side is in the right here and the evangelicals will only continue to fan the flames until their perceived Judgement Day has come.
If you care what’s happening there, you should also care about what’s happening in Ukraine, Darfur, with the Rohingya, the Congo, Yemen, the Uyghurs and the First Nations in America, and likely more that I don’t even know about.
But the way through those is to ensure we have a strong state department. You know who would tear down the state department like he did in his first term?
Hamas did not rape any Jews on 7oct. In fact the UN and recent HRW report stated there is no evidence of any rape on 7oct
You are confusing Hamas with israel who mass rapes Palestinians through history.
I can’t understand the people who dislike her. My sisters don’t like her either and think she’s “dumb” but every time she speaks, she makes what seems to me to be well thought out, rational arguments.
Because she’s actually left and they know it. Most Democrats are centered left or even right.
I see a lot of people who hate her for not being left enough. Whilst I sympathise with that stance to an extent, from the perspective of someone in the UK, the US seems so shockingly right wing that I’m surprised that a figure like Ocasio-Cortez exists at all. That is to say that I wish America had more left wing politicians, but given the current lack, AOC is a refreshing presence.
Supporting Genocide is never left. She is a centrist.
Do you ever get tired of huffing your own farts?
Does defending Genocide ever get tiring?
AOC and Bernie are both saying this and I agree 110%. In all occasions. The most important thing is we all make a plan to go out and vote. Talk to other democrats and make sure they fight that demoralization and go out and vote. There is so much at stake with Project 2025 that I dont even care about these headlines anymore.
His health is declining fast and way too many people think he looks too old (both candidates are) and too mentally busted to last 4 more years. Let alone him even staying coherent another 6 months. He is 100% unable to coherently and quickly speak anymore and it’s not going to magically get better. The real issue is that they should have done something about it 4 months ago so a better candidate could have been picked and it could have looked like Bidens choice to no run for a second term.
I still think the best chance is to put in someone else, but it’s pretty much too late for them to get their shit together.
I’m beginning to think the play is for Joe to only last till the election because there’s no fucking way the country is going to learn about and be excited by one single person with the amount of time the completely incompetent DNC has left us with. If Joe decides he’s too banged up on day one, he can leave the office then.
my community does not have the option to lose
That’s not how elections work. No one is going to count how important the outcome is to you. The election will be decided by low-engagement voters in swing states, not by the New Yorkers who elected Ocasio-Cortez. Those New Yorkers actually might as well stay home on election day, since the Democrats will definitely get New York’s electoral college votes anyway.(Your preferred Democratic candidate only matters if (1) you live in a swing state and (2) you’re seriously considering voting for Trump. If you’re one of those people, you probably don’t have a high opinion of Ocasio–Cortez and you probably aren’t on Lemmy. Otherwise your job is to figure out which candidate those people prefer and make sure he’s the one running.)You’re missing the point, even though it’s in bold letters and flashing.
She’s saying that her constituents are among those that are severely threatened by a GOP win. “Failure is not an option” is a very simple way of expressing that. A loss may eventually mean literal concentration camps or some flavor of that (deportation, loss of basic rights, etc)
I’m not missing that point, I’m replying to it. Her constituents are already overwhelmingly likely to vote for any Democratic candidate and live in a solidly blue state, and such people are not going to be the ones who decide the election. The Democrats need input from a representative whose constituents might actually vote for Trump and have their votes matter, not from her. If she’s talking about what her constituents need, what she’s saying is irrelevant because their need, no matter how great, still leaves their votes worthless here.You say you get the point, and then demonstrate that you missed it entirely.
The reason she’s speaking out is because her constituents are exactly the kind of people that will lose the most of Trump wins. And she’s calling out that the longer this uncertainty continues, the more it harms our chances. That the stakes are high, and (her) people will be hurt if the Dems fumble this again.
She’s also seemingly making the case that changing nominees will hurt our chances more than keeping Biden. Primarily because there’s no obvious choice behind Harris, who the old blood want to skip over, according to her.
Maybe I was reacting more to her rhetoric than to the substance of what she was saying. It’s not unreasonable to argue that replacing Biden at this point is not a good idea (although I don’t agree with that). What I vehemently object to is not that argument but rather the implications that the people trying to push Biden out are not serious about defeating Trump and that she has some unique insight due to representing her (politically irrelevant) constituency.That’s not what she was implying. She was talking about the danger her constituents face from another Trump Presidency.
She turned me around. I’m riding with Biden. I’m serious. I hope the Democrats don’t fuck this up even more. If Kamala can’t taker her rightful place without the donors get in the way then fuck them all. I’m voting for a mentally compromised candidate. I hate this system.
I’m voting for a mentally compromised candidate.
Not if they yank him off the ticket, first. That’s been half the joke of this election.
Biden was never seriously primaried, even as people like Dean Phillips were screaming about his collapsing mental state. Now we’re days out from the Dem convention and suddenly people want to do a quicky re-vote? Its too late you assholes. You blew it.
I’m with AOC that a contested convention will almost certainly produce some kind of horrid ghoul like Joe Manchin at the top of the ticket. Curious to see how disposable the party has Kamala. But the idea that Biden is somehow worth defending is asinine. Backing Biden as he deteriorates in real time is a bad move by AOC and won’t be repaid even if Biden does win the election, because he’s always been a corporate creature with no love for a couple of Brooklyn leftists like AOC and Sanders.
A Manchin that wins is better than an ideal candidate that loses.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/21/opinion/biden-west-wing-aaron-sorkin.html
But there’s something the Democrats can do that would not just put a lump in people’s throats with its appeal to stop-Donald-Trump-at-all-costs unity, but with its originality and sense of sacrifice. So here’s my pitch to the writers’ room: The Democratic Party should pick a Republican.
At their convention next month, the Democrats should nominate Mitt Romney.
Nominating Mr. Romney would be putting our money where our mouth is: a clear and powerful demonstration that this election isn’t about what our elections are usually about it, but about stopping a deranged man from taking power. Surely Mr. Romney, who doesn’t have to be introduced to voters, would peel off enough Republican votes to win, probably by a lot. The double haters would be turned into single haters and the Nikki Haley voters would have somewhere to go, Ms. Haley having disqualified herself when she endorsed the leader of an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government.
Does Mr. Romney support abortion rights? No. Does he want to aggressively raise the minimum wage, bolster public education, strengthen unions, expand transgender rights and enact progressive tax reform? Probably not. But is he a cartoon thug who did nothing but watch TV while the mob he assembled beat and used Tasers on police officers? No. The choice is between Donald Trump and not-Trump, and the not-Trump candidate needs only one qualification: to win enough votes from a cross section of Americans to close off the former president’s Electoral College path back to power.
No shit. The time for not backing Biden was in the last primary. If the Democrats weren’t so fucking short sighted and power hungry, they would have had a primary all of last year instead of now having to back this geriatric horse against a geriatric, racist, fascist, horse in this race.
That said, I’ll be voting for the geriatric horse because the alternative will end up getting my minority ass killed.
Biden just stepped down for elections
Are people here finally understanding the consequences of removing Biden? Will I continue to be berated for asking for evidence of the claims around him?
People have understood. Biden is a sure loss, he literally cannot win. So the next best option is Harris. The question mark is, as AOC points out, will these wealthy donors realize that or will they sabotage the party.
Biden still needs to go. No question. Biden attempting to campaign will put Trump into office.
Biden is a sure loss
Bullshit. This was bullshit yesterday, it was bullshit a month ago, it was bullshit at the beginning of the year, and it was bullshit in 2020.
I wanted Bernie to win. I wanted Biden to decline seeking reelection. I wanted Biden to take a harder stance on Gaza, I want the democrats to be better at messaging. However, there is scant evidence that Biden is likely to lose, and this claim that it’s a “sure” thing is absolutely fucking wrong because it’s far from certain. Fuck you, fuck every single one of you liars pushing this absolutely shit unsupported narrative.
Every single poll that shows Biden losing shows young people voting for Trump, and that’s a clear indicator of unreliability. Every other method of prediction put Biden in the fucking lead, but conviently no one’s talking about that. I fucking wonder why?
You might not like to admit it, but voters do not like Biden. The reason Biden finally stepped down now is because devastating polling just came out of Michigan, ontop of all the other polling you want to deny is there.
Trump is not gaining votes, Biden has been losing them. Trump already has basically all the votes he’s going to get.
This is the first time I’ve ever started disagreed with AOC on something. If we stick with Biden we’re definitely handing the White House to Trumplethinskin. As Democrats we suck at picking candidates.
we suck at picking candidates.
The issue is voters don’t pick the candidates, the DNC does. Then the party will rally behind the hand picked candidate and the public follows behind
Does she really think Genocide Joe is actually popular?
Lmao at her and the people in this thread pretending that Biden being a senile geriatric is “media propaganda”.
Just watch the first 2 minutes of Bidens debating against Trump. Any sane person realizes this is completely Joever.
Nobody is attached to Biden as a candidate. Even the most hardcore superlibs here are saying they don’t like Biden and just vote blue no matter who.
If anyone can be called Russian plant it’s AOC because she really wants Trump to win.
Obviously the most “hardcore superlibs” don’t like Biden, he appeals to moderates.
Everyone saying “the DNC needs to do this, or do that” is making the mistake of thinking that the average politically minded citizen makes the difference in the election. The popular vote doesn’t get you the election, and the average citizen only cares about politics when it personally affects them.
So the strategy that they are going with is “don’t rock the boat” with the average citizen that knows Biden’s name, and also with the elites with money and power who don’t want a more progressive candidate. And they’re desperately hoping all the hardcore libs vote blue no matter who, including Biden.
The average citizen hates Biden. Biden lost all of them the moment they saw the CNN debate.
I’m guessing nobody here actually watched the CNN debate.
IMO; Biden shouldn’t be forced out.
That way does lead to chaos, and a worse chance in November than with Biden.
Though Biden sucks as a candidate and is very unlikely to win as things now stand.
So, imo, best-case, is Biden choosing to step down. and choosing to stump and campaign full-hog whoever does become president.
Biden cannot be forced out. It is Biden’s decision. There is no harm in discussing this topic while we’re waiting for the nomination. Biden has until the virtual convention that is scheduled for the start of August to make a decision. Either option, Biden staying in or dropping out of the race has risks. We need to rally around whoever the candidate ends up being.
I think it makes strategic sense for Harris to takeover and pick Whitmer for her VP. My opinion is a moot point, because I have no say in this. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like Biden is thinking about odds and strategy. He’s thinking about his ego.
Sure he can be forced out.
There’s lots of ways. Like the DNC deciding “nope”.
Even if they don’t go that way, donors pull out, party backstabbing.
Plenty of things to do.
Donors have already pulled out saying they want a new candidate. They aren’t stupid enough to throw away their money on a candidate that will 100% lose.
And the Trump campaign hasn’t even started the big spending.
Doners don’t want Biden’s tax hikes, it’s not about electability.
They would have demanded Biden to step down far earlier if this was the case.
And they would never have backed 2020 Biden to begin with.
Well they just succeeded. So what now?
Now we get to find out if she’s right or not
This is illogical. That’s impossible to know unless you have a looking glass into the alternate timeline where Biden doesn’t drop out, as well as the timelines of different people replacing him.
Probably Kamala.
Not ideal but then again the Democrats have a history of making stupid-ass decisions.
Probably lose after they put themselves in the untenable position.
Yeah, sticking with the guy who is losing in all the polls and can’t speak would have been a much better option.
Democrats pretty much put America in a lose-lost situation here. There’s is no good option here.
No arguments from me. I wonder how long Biden’s ego has been an impediment to Dems. Definitely for the past month but I suspect it’s been a lot longer.
Whoever replaces Biden will still immediately get the “I would vote for a literal hamster instead of Trump” crowd which is like 40% of the nation.
Yeah, because the “Anyone But Bush” strategy worked so well.
That’s an absurd comparison. This election has nothing in common with Bush’s second election. Bush never would have survived a 10th of Trumps bullshit, he nearly got impeached for politicizing the DOJ using a litmus test. Fairly insignificant in comparison to Trump trying to blackmail Ukraine, and starting the jan 6 insurrection.
Keep deluding yourselves that simply going “Republican is bad” as your only strategy while offering nothing, you’re going to continue to lose election after election because the American electorate has never responded well to that.
But yeah, Democrats have some such a bang up fucking job of losing the House and now leading America down this absolute shit show of political genius here mid-election. Some great political strategy at work.
Can you hear other people when they talk, or are you just waiting for your turn?
She needs to sit down and shut the fuck up. If Biden stays in, there is 100% certainty that Trump is going to win.
My people are the first ones deported. They’re the first ones put in Rikers. They’re the first ones whose families are killed by war.
Im sure she still has some of those crocodile tears she shed at the border for them.
You don’t know that. You are just a blow hard.
Math isnt too hard, and right now the math is not in Biden’s favor
I thought the Republican Party was going to crumble first. Instead it is the Democratic Party that’s falling apart, who thought genocide was a winning strategy?
With no path to victory by Biden, a vote for Biden is a vote for Trump.
Nice try. It’s only a vote for Trump if you don’t vote.
Then who does my vote go to if I don’t vote for Trump either? I’m sure as fuck not voting for a Democrat, and I’m sure as fuck not voting for a Republican. From a communist perspective, you both are the same people.
