Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Appearances
The Matt Walsh Show
Ep. 1521 - Trump Wages All Out War On DEI
If someone wants to point a finger and accuse someone of shoplifting, they will be rounded up and put into a private detention camp and sent out for deportation without a day in court. Without a moment to assert their right and without a moment to assert the privilege of innocent until proven guilty. Without being found guilty of a crime, they will be rounded up.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
Oh, I don't think we're witnessing the start of an oligarchy. I think we are fully here. You literally have a completely unelected billionaire who has... just taken over and paused government funding to specifically take out provisions regarding China and other areas that pertain to him.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
You have billionaires who run news outlets like Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post, billionaires that run the LA Times, completely interjecting into their editorial boards and manipulating what's being written in them. We're here. We are here. And we are going to witness very unprecedented moments come January.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
This is actually what this fight is actually all about. This is why Elon is involved in this right now. He's not tweeting this out of nowhere. He's not coming at this out of nowhere. The Trump tax cuts are expiring next year. They are trying to lift the debt limit now because reauthorizing the Trump tax cuts next year are going to explode our federal debt. It's going to explode our deficit again.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
And they don't want to lift the debt limit then to do that. They want to lift it now.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
Because that'll draw too much attention to what their tax cuts are doing. And this way, if they split it up, it's less of a story.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
And that's why Elon's getting involved. His net worth has, I believe it's almost doubled since the election. He is trying to further explode his net worth. And he is trying to leverage everything from income, from federal contracts, to reducing his own personal taxes. This is what this is about for him. Trump has a different set of priorities for himself.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
He's trying to line his own pockets and figure out his own political preservation in this moment. And sometimes those things are aligned and sometimes they're not. And I think right now we're in one of those friction points.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
It's sort of the definition of an oligarchy where even though these guys aren't these, I mean, Trump's not even in office yet. His billionaire daddy is controlling whether the government will stay open or not.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
When Elon tweets something and when Trump tweets something, Republicans don't know. I said this earlier, Republicans don't know who their daddy is. Like they don't know which one they need to be listening to first and it's scrambling them. But it's not a joke that I think Elon poses real political problems for Trump and Trump. arguably may have at least rival his power and influence.
The MeidasTouch Podcast
FED UP Dems Finally PUT THE SCREWS in House GOP
Um, and that's gonna be a problem for Trump. I don't like they're both bad, but. There you go.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
How dare you? At long last, have you no decency? And you might as well just get yours. And the problem with that is that we just entirely give up on a better world. Like that's the crux of it. It's to get good people to just give up and say, this is just how the world works now. And I might as well just throw up my hands. And the fact of the matter is like, I know this is hard.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Maybe this is something like I would say or whatever, but like, I think it actually is important to understand that there are good people and we should be doing good things. And when we decide to make that the norm, And when we decide to uphold it and value it, and even regardless of party, yeah, like don't vote for the people who are doing bad things, whether they're a Democrat or a Republican.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
When we decide to hold people to a higher standard, then things actually do get better.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I mean, I think so. I'm, well, you're kind of preaching to the choir here.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Because I believe that we need to be a party of brawlers for the working class.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And we have turned into a party that caters, and this is reflected in the electoral results, we have become a party of brawlers. People who cater to this – like almost people who call themselves upper middle class, but they're actually like kind of wealthy. And so that's a very – You're talking about me now, aren't you? No, no. You're not middle class at all.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
That's what I meant. But it's like this suburban like – kind of thing. And we've been chasing this affluent group and making all of these little concessions and hoping working people don't notice.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah, I mean, I think the most kind of famous one that comes to mind is Kyrsten Sinema doing her little curtsy when she voted down the $15 minimum wage. But it wasn't just her. There were, like, that was the most public expression of it, but there were a bunch of Democrats in the Senate behind her that also voted it down. And, I mean, people... are struggling so much right now.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
15 bucks an hour is nothing. This was the demand 10 years ago. To be honest, when you index it, it should be higher now. And it is nothing. And What people hear when there's all of these senators voting against it, with all of these excuses of like, oh, well, how is it going to impact business?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
First of all, these laws are very thoroughly, there's already dozens of compromises before you even get to the floor. It's not like it turns on the next day, like there's phasing periods, all this stuff.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Absolutely, absolutely. You know, it's really interesting. So you kind of mentioned this oversight race. So I didn't win the race. But one thing that did happen is that I've moved, I've been assigned to a very powerful committee, the Energy and Commerce Committee. And they're kind of known as one of four money committees in Congress.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
So the four committees are financial services. That's kind of governs Wall Street. You've got ways and means, which is taxes. You have appropriations, which is like government financing all these programs. And then you have energy and commerce. So basically all of the regulation of energy, of healthcare- of tech, of all of it goes through this committee.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And I've served in several other committees before. The day that the news came out that I got assigned to Energy and Commerce, my staff's email boxes blew up with lobbyists, just blown. tons of lobbyists just flooding our emails. Wow. And it is literally because of this assignment that I got.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Just checking in. It's very like, hello, fellow kids. Like, oh, I was at the Bernie rally like back in the day. Like, I'd love to chat. And the thing is, is like, I am afforded Because I am supported by everyday people, like the average donation to my campaign is like 17 bucks or something like that.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I don't take a dime of lobbyist money because I am afforded that independence because everyday people support me. I don't have to. I'm under no pressure or obligation to take a single one of these meetings, not one. And I don't meet with lobbyists. It's just not really something that I do. And if my constituents or if everyday people are organizing and coming to my door, I'll open it.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
If I have policy, you know, like I will go and find the answers that I need for certain things. But I don't make these kinds of decisions. But these compromises that you mentioned, how they happen along the way, it is important for people to understand how Congress is structured. Like every bill that gets proposed gets assigned to a committee. That committee has a chair.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
That's right. And people don't really know that. But if you have, for example, this majority right now, especially because Trump is appointing some people, there's only two more Republicans or so right now in the House. then there are Democrats. But if you just have one more or two more, you gain control of all the House committees. You decide what legislation gets voted on. You do all of it.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. And like the minority party just has to basically sit there for two years. And maybe you can rename a post office if a Republican is going to throw you a bone. But like, you know, it's pretty, pretty limited. And, and so that's how those compromises happen because you need to win that vote.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Like I think about back when Biden was trying to build back better and we had these like, we had this massive prescription drug pricing thing. provision in there that was going to make so many prescriptions more affordable for people. And there was like one Democrat and that bill went through energy and commerce. There was like one Democrat, maybe two very beholden to industry.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
It lost by one vote or lost by one or two votes in that committee. And so that's how like all of these things get slowly chipped away because of that process. And that's why one of the things that we say is like, Yes, voting for Democratic majorities is important, but it's really about the kind of Democrat that you're sending.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And one of the things I've learned a lot in the House is like, you know, there's so many frustrations, understandably. But also, you know, the popularity of Congress is super low, but a lot of people actually like their individual member of Congress.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And that's part of the story that we have here too, because a lot of people are just very, you know, they're very beholden to a set of incentives that are not always just the people who voted for them.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Literally. Not even allowed in. And you've got like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos and TikTok CEO right behind you. Yeah, no, it's like, what are we doing here?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I mean, there are tons of structural things that we can do. And there are lots and lots of ways to get a bite at that apple. I think the crux, the kind of the knot that we have to untie is how do we build the power to actually implement those things? Like when it comes to labor getting that share, that's not a hard problem to solve.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
There are everything from kind of Elizabeth Warren and a lot of other folks saying labor should have board seats in corporations.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Well, that's the thing. Our country is remarkably propagandized. Like we are remarkably propagandized. And that's what I'm talking about when, you know, when it talks about building the power, working, a lot of working class people voted for Donald Trump. Sure.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
He gained a tremendous amount in that area. They voted for him despite the fact that he has a Supreme Court that guts labor rights, that they are overwhelmingly opposed to raising a minimum wage, that they are really, you know, that they're gutting the civil rights around working people and organizing, let alone women and voting rights and for black folks and immigrants.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Like, put all of that aside, just on a working class level, We have elected the foxes for the hen house to run the hen house. And so that is like something that we're going to have to confront because what Zuckerberg and Bezos and all these people sitting behind them, they don't just represent billionaires. They represent all of the communication platforms that people use. Yes.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
In the United States. So the TikTok CEO is saying, we work for Trump. The meta Instagram and Facebook CEO is saying, we work for Trump.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Of course, you've got Elon with his fucking like jumping around on a stage.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. I mean, I think there's a couple of things. One is that, especially for people who voted for Trump and voted for me, they see two people that are fundamentally anti-establishment. Two people that do not respect a rule if the rule does not lead to an outcome, like a positive outcome.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And I mean, it's one of the things that I really kind of sit with is I think a shift that we've seen is that people want to hear directly from us. They're from a politician. And importantly, and this is also dicey territory, I think, they will believe what the politician says from themselves, right?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
If they hear it from me and the same thing, like if they hear it from Trump, like Trump went around. I don't think people understandably, like if you don't like Trump, you probably didn't listen to him on the campaign trail. But this was a very different Trump that was on the campaign trail.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And even if you roll back his election night speech and his victory speech, when he talks about immigration, for example, my district is like 60% immigrant families. And so when you hear him, he was very clear on the campaign trail saying, we're only going to go after the criminals and we're not going to go after people who came here the right way.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And he is lying through his teeth, but that is what he is saying. And so people believe it. It's the same thing with the Project 2025 stuff when he was like, that's not me. We're not going to do that. People will say, he said it's not him. He said he's only going to go after the quote unquote criminals, which they believe everyone who came here who is undocumented is a criminal.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And not only that, but on paper, they say they want to deport 20 million people. There's only 14 million undocumented people in the United States. So they're going to have to proactively strip status from 6 million people who are here legally and in a legal fashion in order to meet that number.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
But you know, the thing is, and so like, this is actually where I think the collapse of journalism, which again, Bezos runs the Post, You've got – they have the newspapers too.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. LA Times is a billionaire publication. Washington Post is a billionaire publication. New York Times is like taking L's left and right. Like you have Elon doing a Nazi salute yesterday and they're like, hmm, he – That was weird. He did this curious – that was – you know, controversial, you know, flagellation. Like, what are you people doing? What utility do you have right now?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And, you know, it's all of this stuff that is meshing together. But the point is, is like, this is not all doom and gloom. I think that it highlights ways that we can fight back. And... One of the things that we need to do is to talk to people directly. Also, guess what? There need to be Democrats who walk the walk and talk the talk.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
There is an insane amount of hypocrisy, and the hypocrisy is where – the hypocrisy is what gets exploited to use the cynicism. And wherever there's a hypocritical window – for example, I think one of the most biggest examples of this is insider trading in Congress. Like –
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
It's crazy. I mean, and this is the thing. It's like people think that everyday people are stupid. I'm like, do you all really think that people don't see this shit?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Explodes. It explodes. What are we doing? And you're doing this on public trust. Right. On like taxpayer finance, public facilities. Like it, of course.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And then we're supposed to act like money only corrupts Republicans. Give me a pause. rake. Like, so to me, this is important because- We're lucky we're not in the same room because I think we might've high-fived.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And I think sometimes what my colleagues and like, you know, other people in the party don't understand is that the insider trading that happens in Congress is it explodes the cynicism that fuels the right. It doesn't benefit us. It benefits Republicans because they make no bones about the fact that they are here, about what class they are here to serve.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
In fact, Republicans are far more honest in this respect sometimes, which is that they're here to serve the billionaire class and they make decisions very publicly to serve that billionaire class.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Oh, yeah. I mean, it's completely rigged. And the frustrations at that are why working people want to elect people who seek to not go along to get along.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
That's exactly right. And like the thing is, is when we talk about solidarity, the reason why solidarity is when we build that is such an antidote to kleptocracy and corruption. I think something that's really important for people to understand and that's something that I also think the left can do a better job at.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
is also explaining why this solidarity is important, not just on moral grounds, but this is our strategy for defeating the billionaire class. Because they are going to say, your wages are low because of an immigrant. And by the way, oh, you're going to drive down, wait until there's no immigrants to
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
do your roofing to do agricultural work in the United States, and you're going to have some UCLA alum that's doing your vegetables.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
They are exploited. They are absolutely exploited. But the thing is, is that when we allow ourselves to constantly be distracted by these culture wars around trans people, around... It's a new thing every day. But I think the answer isn't that... We just let those people be attacked. It's that we say, what are you doing, man?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I think we need to make standing up for these folks just like such an afterthought that it's not even a debate. We need to understand and see the bait for what it is, but we don't take the bait by letting those rights just erode and go by the wayside. Right.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. Well, let's take the Lake and Riley Act, for example, which just passed in the Senate, which is – this kind of encapsulates a lot of what you just said. Lake and Riley Act, on its face, Republicans brought this and they say, well, if you are – by the way, Lake and Riley is a victim of a horrific crime.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Horrible murder by some – by, I believe, an asylum seeker or an undocumented person.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I watched his speech and I watched them not be able to turn on the music for Carrie Underwood.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Now, first and foremost, her family explicitly asked that her name not be politicized or used or wielded in this way. And Every time I see this, it's just so disgusting to me that they just trampled on this family's wishes and decided to do this. But anyways. So you have this act that's brought forth.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And Republicans say, OK, well, this person, if you have a criminal record, if you've sexually assaulted somebody, you should be deported. And so that's the guise of this bill, right? And they said, so that should be the law. Except that's not what's in this law. Because A, that is existing US law. It is existing US law.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And well, I mean, I think there are individual cases where I'm not sure, but this is what the right does. They exploit these like very narrow individual cases. But the existing law in the United States is that if you are undocumented and you commit a crime, you are put on priority number one for deportation. That is standing U.S. law.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Now here's what Lake and Riley does actually, is that they use that guise to then dramatically erode constitutional rights in the United States tucked into that bill.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
So now in this bill, all you need to do is be accused of a crime and you don't have to be fully undocumented. It works against dreamers too. So you could be here.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
This is Patriot Act all over again. This is... Mission Creek. Exactly. Using this guise of national security to erode not just the civil rights of this population, but your civil rights too. And like, it makes us all... It's kind of like when they did these 100-mile border security zones.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
They're doing surveillance on everybody, on the vast majority of the United States, because most people, believe it or not, live within 100 miles of some kind of border, the southern border, the northern border, or both either coast.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And so, like, this is the thing that, you know... This is the thing that we need to be aware of. But it's also something that you haven't heard this because Democrats are very scared on these kinds of issues. Democrats are vulnerable on issues of immigration.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And so the response, instead of being more full throated and telling people how they're being conned, is to kind of just like be quiet about it and to go along with it.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. I was like, we are off to a great start here. But, you know, I watched his remarks and leading up to it, and then I was out. I was like, all right, I've seen enough.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Well, I think we need a real agenda. If you've noticed, the Democratic Party has not really had a platform with any sort of new- I have noticed. Yeah. There's no platform. I mean, there's technically a platform that gets voted out. This is the crux of it. If you ask a working class American or just any normal American, what is a Democrat? What do they stand for?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
They will not really be able to give you- a clear answer. And so our party needs a clear and strong agenda. I think one of the problems is that the internal incentives within the Democratic Party are quite contrary to a clear, full-throated agenda. And that's why I think you notice, like, Biden on his way out, it was only on his way out that he was like, this country's controlled by oligarchs.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Bye. Like, we could have used that energy a couple years ago.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah, and I think it's one of these things where people – I do think that people want rule breakers in this moment.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Of course. Of course. This is where I think when you talk about responsiveness, it's that a lot of people propose these things that kind of nibble around the edges. but don't actually structurally address the problem. And so they'll say, OK, we're going to do a little bit of Medicare reform here. That doesn't fix the problem.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
That doesn't fix the fact that you aren't paid a living wage from the jump, from the time you're 15 years old getting your first job at McDonald's or Baskin Robbins or wherever it is. We don't have money. We need money. So that doesn't solve that problem.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
It doesn't solve the fact that the price of college is just skyrocketing year over year and it's increasingly becoming something that's only accessible for students. for more and more elite people as time goes on. It doesn't fix the fact that then in order to... That degree, yes, it still does give you a ticket to a more privileged class.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I know there's a lot of discussion about is college worth... And also the trades too. The trades are incredibly important as well. But these are still kind of tickets to a more... So... People are getting left behind at every single stage of life. And what the Democratic response has been is like, oh, let's expand Pell Grants a little bit. And no, we need tuition.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
At the end of the day, like – and the stuff that's crazy to me is like the answers are stuff – like we're just asking for things that our parents and our grandparents had. Like – Tuition-free public colleges and universities, not new.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
We should be lowering the age of Medicare. I want the age of Medicare to be lowered to zero, but even you bring it to 50 and you will be able to make tons and tons of people far more secure in their lives, which by the way, helps their kids because- you're working your ass off to get your parents healthcare because they're not 65 yet.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And also people are very responsive to incentives. I think sometimes people are rightfully sometimes frustrated at some of the creep towards pro-business and capital and this turn away from labor.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah, I think that's a very valid question. I think depending on your view of the world, it is government either exists to enforce that system and then try to kind of soften the consequences of it. And that is defined by the people that we send to represent us, that outcome. But I do think that people respond and elected officials respond to those incentives, as you mentioned, not only
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Are they responsive to sunlight? Money isn't the only rule here. At the end of the day, people who are in Congress want to return to Congress. And the reason is true. And the reason that the Republicans have so much enforcement is because they're more scared of a primary than they are of a general election. And for multiple reasons. One, their base is highly mobilized.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Their base is highly engaged. And so if you can survive a primary, their theory of change is that you will be able, for the most part, be able to survive a general election, which is, I would say, true for maybe 90% to 95% of all seats in Congress. There are very, very few swing seats left in America.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Republicans and this whole system has been gerrymandered that the number of swing seats is so low. So for everybody else, your only election is a primary election. And that's been, you know, billionaires fuel and they fund primary challenges. Trump openly talks about that to keep everyone in line. But we all do have a choice. And the more choices we have...
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
that are more representative of the changes we want to see, the better off we all are. And we're going to lose a bunch, but we're also going to win a bunch too. And I will always, always, always believe that it was always worth trying. And in fact- It's so important that we don't give up because people do not understand. No, no. Even if you don't see a way because ways emerge, moments emerge.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I totally agree with it. But this is like a thing in the Democratic Party. This is a thing, particularly with the Democratic establishment. It is this this like I actually think it speaks a lot to some of the class differences and the class duration in the Democratic Party, because it's you know, yesterday was also MLK Day.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I was not supposed to get elected to Congress by any stretch of the imagination. I was insane. I was a waitress.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
No, I mean, it's not just a cute story. I was wiping down a bar and asking people to vote for me. It wasn't like a summer job I had once. I was not supposed to win. The guy I was running against spent $3 million against me. I was making money. I was getting like $2 in my paycheck once a week because I was working off tips and they take it all out. But things happen in America.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. I mean, I have a weird relationship with the Democratic Party, to say the least.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
It's kind of like one foot in, one foot out, right? And I think the foot out that I have is the foot that is very attuned to people. And the foot in that I have is, you know, it's still the coalition that helps people, in my view. And it's a coalition that we all have to be part of.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And so to me, I do think there's, as you mentioned, I do think that there is a little bit of this lost at sea moment happening. But as you said, I see that not as a reason for despair. I see it as a tremendous opportunity. And I've been a wrecking ball in the past. I am also, I think that's one of the tools. I believe in the toolbox, right? And sometimes you need a wrecking ball.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Sometimes you need a hammer. Sometimes you need a wrench. And I think in this moment, it's a tremendous window of opportunity for efficacy, right? And whoever is most effective is where the momentum is going to go. And so I'm, for me, I'm just trying shit out. Like I'm just trying shit out and I'm just in the batting cage and I'm just waiting for a dinger and this is the work.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. Yes, it did. And one of the things that MLK would talk about, he would talk about this tension between people who value order over valuing justice. And I think there is this – really strong attachment to order and business as usual. And I think also a lot of Democrats see that as a contrast. Like they're like, see, we don't, we're not them.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
That's what it's going to take, just to throw in everything at it.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
So we are going to ask you what, you know, kind of tea you want, as opposed to calling it like it is, which I think sometimes is seen as a little more gauche.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I mean, there are rules and structures and orders in the Democratic Party. One that we know very well is seniority. And they, you know, it's like, it's a seniority rule type of system. And it is true. My run was, it was a challenging of an entire system. It wasn't just about me or about Like any, again, I think Jerry's great, but it wasn't just about two individuals.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. You know, but it was about challenging a system and a system and a way of making decisions in the party. And the problem with that is that when you challenge the way that Democrats, when you ask Democrats sometimes to challenge the way that they've been operating for decades, I mean, it's existential in some ways. Like if we don't make decisions like this, What could we possibly do?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. And not only that, but the other thing that makes it dangerous is that it makes us remarkably predictable. It makes the Democratic Party highly predictable in the decisions it's going to make, in the people that we're going to select, in the type of people we advance in the way that we make decisions.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And when we are highly predictable to the opposition, they will be one, two, four steps ahead. They know what Democrats are going to do.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I think both. I think they know what we're going to do politically. They know how we position ourselves, even within internal squabbles, you know, when There's a progressive or whatever you may want to say about it. They kind of can map us out. And because of that, they're able to operate around that. They'll say, oh, yeah, they're going to do that or they're not going to do that.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
There was never any question about who or who wouldn't show up to the inauguration, for example. Or how they would be received, I think. And they know that. And so they're able to, you know, to your point, Trump is able to run roughshod through these things because he knows, he has a lot of the party's number in terms of how they're going to operate.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And I think that sometimes making certain calculated but unpredictable choices is a way that we can put ourselves, give ourselves the upper hand.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah, no, it's really true. And I think something that what makes this go around with Trump so much more dangerous than the first time around is exactly what you're saying. It's that he is much more normalized this time around. than he was the first time. The first time people were really on edge, they were on guard, they were very vigilant about any break that he would have with these norms.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
This time, the norms are becoming him, like the norms are embracing him. Even these like little things that people may not, like everyday working people may not care about, but they are strong cultural signals. Oscar de la Renta, like dressing all of the women, like there's all these cultural symbols, right?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
So like all of these people that were scared before about like being associated with him from the most common basic level to the most elite level, they're all like, they're all all in now because- This is now a billionaire feeding frenzy. It is a kiss-ass race. It is... Man. It is, how can I show how much fealty I have to Donald Trump in order to get my digs?
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
And I think what's really important for people to understand and like, now and every day of this administration is that you're being ripped off. You're being ripped off, dude. Like everyone is being ripped off and he goes up there and he says what he wants to say, but he's like, he's just the quintessential New York con man.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
Yeah. I mean, even, but the thing is like, it will still be hidden, even if you make it explicit, A, like these meme coins. People do not really understand, nor should they, frankly, in a lot of ways, crypto.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
But if, God forbid, your job requires you to understand this, one of the things about crypto, I mean, at the end of the day, a lot of crypto is just scamming poor people and money laundering for wealthy people.
The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart
JON & AOC
I think actually like when you look at how, for example, Putin has operated in Russia and the way they've been able to kind of take things over in these oligarchies, these kleptocracies, They prey on that exact logic, on that exact predicate, which is that everyone's corrupt and it's all corrupt. And so who gives a fuck? Sorry. Right.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I'm not. I think it's important to call this administration's bluff. I think that this is what authoritarians do. I think this is what kleptocracies do. I believe that this is what corrupt administrations do. They rely on the illusion of power.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I think it's certainly possible, but I'm not sure. I cannot think of or point to any individuals who have said that. I do think that there are Democratic members of Congress who are preparing for that possibility.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I think they look to the possibility of litigation. I think they're saying, you know, do we have the best teams possible in order to carry out our work?
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
In what way? In what way? Is it—is the very presence of— Putting Trump on trial would be their example, I suppose. Yes. I mean, here's the deal. In the United States, there is a jury where we are judged by our peers. And he was found guilty in court on 34 felony charges. If people want to say it was weaponized, I mean, it is hard-pressed to say that there's a partisan argument for that.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
You have Senator Menendez famously saying,
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Democratic senator from New Jersey.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
And to 11 years in prison. However, what is weaponization is that previously independent Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office now turning around saying, we are not the American people's lawyers anymore. We are the president's lawyers. And that is a dramatic shift. That is a dramatic change in the structure of our justice system.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Yeah.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Well, you know, I think it is important that we be— Not hypocritical in that. I've called for Eric Adams, Mayor Eric Adams, to resign or be removed if he refuses to do so. There was a pretty explicit quid pro quo arrangement that these attorneys saw.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
in Mayor Adams approaching the Trump administration saying, hey, you let me off the hook and I will exchange public policy implementation, which is just as damning not only for Eric Adams, it's also equally damning in terms of corruption in the Trump administration.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I think it is about our society writ large is completely slanted so that the gains that we have go to the wealthy, go to the corporate class, go to the largest corporations in America who pay the least in taxes and everyday working people seeing the least benefit in society. And I think the boiling rage that exists at this sense of injustice that you are working one, two jobs.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
You are scared to go to the doctor because you don't think that you'll be even able to afford a blood test. That you're working tirelessly and you're not even making money.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I think a word to describe the state of the party is... Resolved. If I had to pick one word, it would be resolved.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Eight nine bucks an hour in a lot of places in this country And then on top of it everything feels increasingly like a scam that not only are grocery prices going up, but it's like Everything has a fee and a surcharge and I think that anger Is put out at government It is put out at a lot of different areas and in terms of efficiency, our government can be tremendously efficient for the wealthy.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
But inefficient at times in delivering things for working people, that is not the same thing as justifying cutting the very few things that people actually interface with. Going after the post office, going after the VA, going after Medicaid and Medicare. Those are two entirely different propositions.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I think when we talk about breaking things, messing things up, I mean, to the FAA, no. To the NIH, no. To our ability to contain Ebola before it gets on a plane and comes into the United States, no. I don't want someone being reckless with the most critical infrastructure.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I don't want someone being reckless abandoning experimental medical devices that are implanted in everyday Americans who have no other recourse because their disease has so far progressed. I actually don't want someone taking a wrecking ball to someone's chemotherapy to just see what happens.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Now, I do think that we can examine certain things like Medicare Advantage, that I think is a scam, that in the name of so-called efficiency, ironically enough, we have... handed over huge amounts of healthcare disbursements to private insurers who are pocketing it and giving less coverage to the people who receive this than ever before, sure, yeah, let's go after that.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
But I don't think we just destroy everything that we have worked so hard for as a country to become innovative, to become just, to have some of the only lifelines that people have in this country to a roof over their head or food in their children's stomach. No, I don't think that we gamble with that.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I mean, in this moment, I think we've moved through shock. I think we've moved through dismay. I think we've moved through the five stages of grief. I think we've moved through that defensiveness. But it is, I think, a rapidly evolving situation.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Of course. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I do believe that the Republican Party is making certain large errors right now and that they are underestimating the public vote.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
If that cut becomes reality, it's important for people to understand not just are people going to be thrown off of Medicaid. Not only are Medicare recipients who receive, for example, long-term care benefits from Medicaid going to be affected.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
But people who are not on Medicaid are likely going to see their health insurance premiums go up because the more people get kicked off of Medicaid, the more uninsured people there are in the United States, the more they use ERs, the more that they go directly to hospitals for care, and the... cost of uninsured people is oftentimes then born in health insurance premiums as well and deductibles.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Some of his campaign promises, he does a good job of pairing what I would say some of the largest giveaways to the 1% and elites with very tangible ideas. policy promises.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Exactly. You take no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security. These things sound great. They also directly appeal to very specific pockets of people who tend to be working class. And that creates a permission structure, right? You toss a crumb to us and you give the farm to the big fish. And I think he's very sophisticated in how he tailors those things.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I guess my question would be, what does the word problem mean?
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Well, the credit card interest rate cap is my bill from 2019 with Senator Sanders. And we're having some bipartisan momentum on it. Senator Hawley is interested in working with Senator Sanders and myself. I've also have been working with some Republican colleagues. But it is a signal that Republicans understand the trouble that they are in trying to pursue their own agenda in a very naked form.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
They need certain fig leaves and they are sophisticated about that.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I would say that instead of appealing to other politicians, we should be appealing to the American people. And if you ask the American people what they think of what Elon Musk and Doge are doing with government right now, they are vehemently opposed. The reactions right now are not just in Democratic districts. They are in Republican districts.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Even Republicans in my district, they're saying, I voted for Trump. I did not vote for Elon Musk. I did not vote for this. I did not vote for mass buyouts of the federal workforce. We did not vote for the corruption of gutting NASA and then having the contracts go to SpaceX. We did not vote for Starlink to start replacing critical FAA operations.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Yes. And I think that there is a very, very deep corruption at the core of this. If Elon Musk wanted to divest himself of his businesses and... enter public service with his so-called business expertise, that is his prerogative. But so long as he maintains a vested financial interest in gutting the federal government, he is acting in his own self-interest and not those of the American people.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Good morning. Thank you for having me.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I do. I do. I thought it was an amazing and incredible gesture. I definitely appreciate it.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Well, I think for a really long time, voters in this district were yearning for a candidate that spoke directly to them and to our needs. We're having an affordability crisis in New York City. We have a security crisis with our current immigration system. And I think I was able to allow our community to really feel seen and heard and visited and advocated for.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I mean, I guess my question would be, what does the word problem mean? Yeah.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I think that we have a problem on immigration because of the lack of progress that we've had on this issue. And as we know, Republicans weaponize that lack of progress. They are completely uninterested in addressing undocumented people, in addressing a path to citizenship.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Even then, you see what Republicans did with the Lake and Riley Act. They authorized the complete gutting of due process. So now you can take a DACA recipient, a dreamer, just accuse them of a crime.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
And deport them. However— They also understand that they don't even have the infrastructure to do that. It's not even about creating a deportation pipeline. They are creating a private prison camp pipeline. So they're still creating pipelines to just increase this problem here in the United States.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I think that a lack of a path to citizenship in the United States, the lack of addressing comprehensive immigration reform creates a large population of undocumented people in the United States. And that is allowed to be weaponized in many ways. We have a large population of of undocumented people in the United States.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
It's important to call this administration's bluff. They rely on the illusion of power.
Up First from NPR
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Overwhelmingly, it is not because they crossed the southern border of the United States. It's because they came here in a documented fashion and overstayed a visa and became undocumented. And it is the lack of ability for us to expand paths to citizenship, modernize paths to citizenship over decades that create this bubbling issue that Republicans are allowed to weaponize.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
And I think when that is paired with divestment from the social safety net, when that is paired with lack of progress on minimum wage, when that is paired with rising costs of living— It sets the stage for a strong man to point to any marginalized group and say it's their fault instead of looking at the gross income inequality that we have and its actual causes in the United States.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I was informing all of my constituents of their constitutional protections, and in particular, their constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure in the United States.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I was giving advice to all of my constituents, yeah.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I have not, and I intend on reaching out to the Department of Justice to inquire.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
Well, there is a member of the Trump administration who is threatening and seeks to open an inquiry, and are you going to do it?
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says She's Fighting President Trump's "Illusion of Power"
I think it's important to know where this administration stands and if they intend on using political intimidation to silence their critics.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
I was informing all of my constituents of their constitutional protections and, in particular, their constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure in the United States.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
I have not, and I intend on reaching out to the Department of Justice to inquire.
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Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
Well, there is a member of the Trump administration who is threatening and seeks to open an inquiry. And are you going to do it?