After fiercely supporting President Joe Biden’s reelection bid, progressive “Squad” leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has broken her silence and expressed her full support for Vice President Kamala Harris.
President Biden’s shocking announcement on Sunday seemed to set Harris up to gracefully take over the campaign she left behind. Biden even endorsed her to run as the Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris, who had one of the most progressive records during her time in the Senate, has been praised and endorsed by allies of Team AOC such as Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Cori Bush, D-Mo.
AOC, who last Thursday defended Biden during a late-night Instagram Live stream by decrying the “enormous danger” posed by replacing the president at the top of the ticket, backtracked and pledged her full support for Harris after Joe dropped out of the 2024 race this afternoon.
Just two weeks ago, after the disastrous CNN debate rocked Joe Biden’s campaign, Ocasio-Cortez expressed her full support for the president, saying that “he’s our candidate” and that “the matter is closed.”
“Kamala Harris will be the next President of the United States,” the New York Democrat wrote Sunday night.
‘I pledge my full support to ensure your victory in November.’
“Now more than ever, it is crucial that our party and our country come together quickly to defeat Donald Trump and the threat to American democracy. Let’s get to work.”
The 34-year-old congresswoman took to Instagram, one of her favorite tools for reaching her massive following and devotees, and spent an hour last Thursday outlining the “dangers” of Biden dropping out on Thursday.
“People need to understand the reality and the gravity of what these people are proposing,” he said.
“I’m not saying that all of this is a reason not to do it, but I do think that people talk about it without having both eyes wide open and without knowing what it really means.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pledged her “full support” to Vice President Kamala Harris
He then sounded the alarm: “I have not seen any alternative scenario that, in my opinion, does not expose us to enormous danger.”
Also in the monologue, AOC warned that Democrats are far from unified behind the vice president.
“I’m just going to say it. If you think there’s a consensus among people who want Joe Biden to dump Kamala, that they’re going to support Kamala, support Vice President Harris, you’re wrong,” Ocasio-Cortez said on the broadcast.
“I’m in these rooms. I see what they’re saying in the conversations,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “They’re interested in eliminating the entire ticket.”
He denounced a “lack of reflection” on the part of Democratic leaders who did not want Biden to run but did not have a foolproof alternative plan.
The congresswoman said that former President Trump “is also very old, he is racist and he is a neo-Nazi.”
U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) hold hands at an event to mark Earth Day during a visit to Prince William Forest Park in Triangle, Virginia, U.S., April 22, 2024.
Ocasio-Cortez has served as a Biden campaign representative
Now, her tune has changed and she and her fellow squad members are lining up behind the progressive former senator.
Harris has also received support from other prominent Democrats, including the Clintons and California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is widely believed to be a potential contender for the nomination.