Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just addressed those presidential rumours in the most inspiring way
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- Hannah-Rose Yee
- Published
In an Instagram live after presidential nominee hopeful Bernie Sanders suffered a setback in his campaign, AOC addressed the number one question on everyone’s lips.
Everyone is always asking Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the same question: is she going to run for president?
No matter that, technically, she’s not eligible to enter the race for almost another decade. Despite the fact that polls have suggested she would be supported by a majority of Democrats, according to the US constitution AOC isn’t old enough to throw her hat in the ring, which has a presidential nominee age limit of 35. The earliest AOC could throw her hat in the ring would be the 2028 elections, when she will be 38.
Still, it doesn’t stop people asking the question, including during an Instagram live that the politician took part in last night. Towards the end of the video, which addressed the setbacks and disappointments faced in the primaries this week by her chosen presidential nominee Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez was asked yet again if she would run.
“I want to level with all of you, I’m not a person that aspires to a position, I aspire to a mission,” she said in the social media video. “We can’t swing from one saviour to another. There’s a lot of saviour-ism in politics, like ‘Who’s next?’ and ‘Who’s gonna save us?’ And the answer is you. The answer is people.”
It was an empowering answer to a question that the congresswoman is asked a lot, and it wasn’t the only moment of uncynical inspiration from the video.
Addressing those disappointed by Sanders’ results, which put him behind Joe Biden in the race to secure the presidential nomination, Ocasio-Cortez reminded everyone to take stock of just how much they have achieved when it comes to American politics this election cycle.
“There’s no sugar-coating it. Tonight’s a tough night. Tonight’s a tough night electorally,” she said, addressing the 8,000 people who tuned in to watch her speak. “”There’s a generational divide in the Democratic Party on health care, on climate change, on foreign policy.”
She pointed out the areas in which Sanders’ campaign had succeeded: Medicare For All and a real plan to combat climate change.
“A lot of what we need to focus on … as we have always needed to focus on, are the issues. The good news that we have tonight is that that’s one area where we are winning,” she said. “In the long term, what is important is that we are winning on the issues and we are winning over people.”
Despite Ocasio-Cortez’s video, don’t count Sanders out of the race yet. The senator won a primary in North Dakota last night, and he still has 685 delegates to Biden’s 847, as per NPR. A candidate needs 1991 delegates in order to secure the nomination. There’s work to be done, but Sanders hasn’t dropped out of the running just yet.
Images: Getty