Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said that the Democratic Party could have used former President Joe Biden’s “energy” about warning against an oligarchy forming in the United States sooner.
“Biden on his way out — it was only on his way out that he was like, ‘This country’s controlled by oligarchs, bye,’” Ocasio-Cortez said on Thursday’s episode of Jon Stewart’s “The Weekly Show” podcast. “Like, we could have used that energy a couple of years ago.”
The lawmaker’s remarks were in reference to Biden’s farewell speech, where he warned that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America that literally threatens our democracy, our basic rights, our freedoms.”
After Stewart said that the Democratic Party is in “real confusion” about who it is, Ocasio-Cortez agreed and said it needs a “real agenda,” adding that the “crux” of the party is its lack of a platform.
“If you ask a working-class American or just any normal American, ‘What is a Democrat? What do they stand for?’ They will really not be able to give you a clear answer,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez also argued that Democrats need to “walk the walk and talk the talk” and called out lawmakers for their “hypocrisy,” giving insider trading as an example.
“It’s so crazy. This is the thing. People think that everyday people are stupid. I’m like, ‘Do you all really think that people don’t see this shit?’” she told Stewart, adding, “And then we’re supposed to act like money only corrupts Republicans? Give me a fucking break.”
In 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, former Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) all faced scrutiny amid claims that they used knowledge gained in a Senate briefing to sell stocks before the stock market crash on Feb. 20, 2020. The Justice Department investigated, but no charges were made.
In 2021, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) defended lawmakers who participate in the stock market, saying America is a “free-market economy.”
Elsewhere during her “Weekly Show” appearance, Ocasio-Cortez criticized the “billionaire feeding frenzy” for being “all in” with President Donald Trump after being scared of being associated with him in his previous term.
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“It is a kiss-ass race,” she said. “It is, ‘How can I show how much fealty I have to Donald Trump in order to get my digs?’ I think what’s really important for people to understand, now and every day of this administration, is that you’re being ripped off.”