Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s official role during the second night of the Democratic Convention was to formally seconded the presidential nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the 2020 Democratic presidential runner-up nominee.
During her brief, 97-second remarks seconding the nomination of Sanders, the progressive freshman praised Sanders for creating a “historic grassroots campaign” during his two-time presidential run that was organized to “reclaim our democracy” and to establish the “21st century social, economic and human rights.”
Keeping her highly anticipated remarks fairly tamed, Ocasio-Cortez didn’t once utter support or even the name of the Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Instead, she focused her full-throated support for the progressive movement.
The “mass people’s movement,” according to Ocasio-Cortez is dedicated to repairing the “wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, and homophobia,” and building “reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past.”
She railed against the “unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth,” mentioning the current public health and economic crisis facing Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic to highlight the central causes progressive have pushed for including, “guaranteed health care, higher education, living wages, and labor rights for all” as a solution to these issues.
“In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crises of mass evictions, unemployment and lack of health care, and espíritu del pueblo and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Shortly after the “Roll Call Across America” featuring representatives from all 57 states and territories that formally nominated Biden as the party’s presidential nominee, Ocasio-Cortez in a pair of tweets explained the confusion for her nomination of Sanders, saying she was asked by the DNC to take on the role in seconding the Vermont senator’s nomination and called the experience “an absolute honor.”
“If you were confused, no worries!” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold,” she tweeted. “I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call.”
Congratulations, @JoeBiden – I deeply look forward to fighting for our future together and reclaiming our democracy in November.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020
Thank you @DemConvention for having me deliver Sen. Sanders’ roll call nomination speech.
It’s been an absolute honor.#NotMeUs & #Biden2020 🇺🇸 https://t.co/dJN1FUQfix
In a follow-up tweet, Ocasio-Cortez extended her “deepest congratulations to Biden, saying “I deeply look forward to fighting for our future together and reclaiming our democracy in November.”
Ocasio-Cortez has not yet formally endorsed Biden.
- Trump Campaign, RNC Raise $76 Million During Week of Republican Convention
- What Melania Wore At The Final Night Of Republican National Convention
- What Ivanka Wore Introducing President Trump On Final Night of Republican National Convention
- Read: Ivanka Trump’s 2020 RNC Speech
- NYPD PBA President Praise Trump For His ‘Powerful Voice Defending Police Officers’
What do you think?