Some House Democrats Are Not Fans Of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Not everyone in the Democratic party is happy with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, CNN is reporting. Ocasio-Cortez, age 29, has been making waves in politics as the first self-proclaimed “socialist” in Congress. Now, sources are saying other House Democrats are afraid of her potential impact. This news comes from Politico, who is said to have consulted with almost 20 lawmakers and aides for this information. Allegedly, some House members are worried that Ocasio-Cortez’s progressive politics will form more opposition against more establishment Democrats.

Ocasio-Cortez recently hired two former organizers from the progressive group Justice Democrats, for example. In addition, the New York Representative was quoted as saying “all Americans know money in politics is a huge problem, but unfortunately the way that we fix it is by demanding that our incumbents give it up or by running fierce campaigns ourselves” in a conference call in November.

Ocasio-Cortez declined to comment on these reports officially through her staff but later took to Twitter to respond to the claims that fellow Democratic politicians were unhappy with her. She retweeted a post from Cristobal Alex, who served as Hillary for America’s National Deputy Director of Voter Outreach and Mobilization, that linked to the original article from Politico — where the headline read “Exasperated Democrats try to rein in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”

“Let me try and save folks some time here,” Alex posted. “You cannot rein in Latinas. They rein you in.”

Ocasio-Cortez retweeted this message, adding “To quote Alan Moore: ‘None of you understand. I’m not locked up in here with YOU. You’re locked up in here with ME.'”

To quote Alan Moore: “None of you understand. I'm not locked up in here with YOU. You're locked up in here with ME.” ? https://t.co/8TCmKNJlkD

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 11, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez frequently uses Twitter to hit back at criticisms and elaborate on her viewpoints. She once tweeted that she was against the new set of House rules, which is said to have frustrated fellow Democrats in Congress. She also tweeted that she would vote against a Democratic rules package. In addition, Ocasio-Cortez is facing backlash after vying for a seat on the Ways and Means Committee, where spots are usually held by lawmakers with more experience. Allegedly, there was a grassroots campaign in effect that was intended to convince Speaker Nancy Pelosi to give her a seat on the panel, but Ocasio-Cortez’s office denied any involvement with the campaign.

Ocasio-Cortez recently shared that she doesn’t intend to back solely progressive candidates against incumbent Democrats, despite accusations saying otherwise. Instead, she maintains she is “focused on [her] job.” Democratic Representative Nydia Velázquez of New York is reportedly serving as a neutral party between Ocasio-Cortez and the Democratic House members that dislike her, advising Ocasio-Cortez in private conversations to not target other Democrats. Velázquez confirmed to Politico that the two shared a “long, long conversation” about navigating dynamics in Congress.

House Dems want Ocasio-Cortez to stop attacking their own — but with more star power than most House members, it’s an open question whether the 29-year-old can be brought into the fold https://t.co/r2TiVzIMTX

— POLITICO (@politico) January 11, 2019