After fiercely supporting President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, leader of the Progressive “Squad,” has broken her silence and thrown her full support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
President Biden’s shock announcement on Sunday seemed to saddle Harris with the campaign he left behind. Biden even endorsed her to become the Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris, who was one of the most progressive politicians during her time in the Senate, was praised and supported by AOC’s Squad allies such as Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.).
AOC, who came out in support of Biden during a late-night Instagram livestream last Thursday, decrying the “enormous danger” of replacing the president at the top of the ballot, took a stand and pledged her full support to Harris after Joe withdrew from the 2024 race this afternoon.
Just two weeks ago, after the disastrous CNN debate rocked Joe Biden’s campaign, Ocasio-Cortez threw her full support behind the president, saying “he is our nominee” and “the matter is settled.”
“Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States,” the New York Democrat wrote on X on Sunday night.
“I pledge my full support to her to ensure her victory in November.”
“Now more than ever, it is critical that our party and our country unite swiftly to defeat Donald Trump and the threat to American democracy. Let’s get to work.”
The 34-year-old congresswoman used Instagram — one of her favorite tools to reach her large following — to spend an hour last Thursday describing the “dangers” of Biden leaving office.
“People need to understand the reality and the gravity of what these people are proposing,” she said.
“I’m not saying that any of this is a reason not to do it, but I do think people talk about this without realizing what it really means.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pledged her ‘full support’ to Vice President Kamala Harris
Then she sounded the alarm: ‘I have not seen any alternative scenario that I think does not put us in great danger.’
AOC also warned in the monologue that Democrats are far from united behind the vice president.
“I’m just going to say it. If you think there’s a consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to abandon Kamala, that they’re going to support Kamala, Vice President Harris, you’re wrong,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the stream.
“I’m in these rooms. I see what they’re saying in conversations,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “They’re interested in removing the entire ticket.”
She criticized the “lack of thoughtfulness” of Democratic leaders, who did not want Biden to run but had no watertight alternative plan.
According to the congressman, former President Trump is “also very old, a racist and a neo-Nazi.”
U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) hold hands during an event to commemorate Earth Day while visiting Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia, U.S., April 22, 2024
Ocasio-Cortez has served as a surrogate on Biden’s campaign
Now her opinion has changed and she and her Squad colleagues are aligning themselves with the former progressive senator.
Harris has also been endorsed by other prominent Democrats including the Clintons and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is considered a contender for the nomination.