A Democrat headed to Congress who received the first primary opponent endorsement from leftist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) mocked Republicans who have accused Democrats of being socialists, taunting, “Get over it.”
Ocasio-Cortez said of Marie Newman, “Marie Newman is a textbook example of one of the ways that we could be better as a party — to come from a deep blue seat and to be championing all the issues we need to be championing.”
Newman, who was also backed by the Justice Democrats, the SEIU Illinois State Council, and EMILY’s List, which backs female Democratic candidates who support abortion, in her successful campaign to unseat Democrat Dan Lipinski in Illinois’ 3rddistrict, told Fox News, “Republicans have been calling us socialists since about 1901. We are not socialists. We are Democrats. Get over it.”
“That’s all we do is jobs, jobs, jobs,” she claimed. “We have always been better at jobs. And we’ve always been better at the economy. And we’re going to keep doing that.”
Newman insisted she was not a hard-leftist, arguing, “I am super fortunate that all perspectives in the party supported me. “[The Democratic Party] embraced me and found something in my platform. And I think it’s because I have a very practical approach to all of my policies. And we need that right now. We desperately need someone that is really good at building bridges and building coalitions to get a practical path forward so we get something done.”
Newman supports universal child care, paid family leave and a minimum wage of $15 an hour, while lauding leftist Bernie Sanders, as she said, “Bernie pushed hard to get Biden to move on a couple of things particularly on the green stimulus package. And look at this package. This is the most progressive green stimulus package we’ve ever seen out of the Democratic Party. It’s very aggressive. He understands we have less than 10 years to solve this problem.”
“Newman said it was ‘horrifying’ to see Trump in the White House because he’s ‘the epitome of the ultimate bully,’” Fox News reported. She said of Biden, “He is a unifier and a healer. And he’s a good man. That’s what we all need right now.”
Asked by The New York Times in March after she defeated Lipinski in the primary how she would define herself ideologically, Newman answered, “I certainly have progressive values. I put the people in my district first. And so, I would probably say that I’m a progressive.”
The Times noted, “You were backed by Justice Democrats, the national group that has been playing up that distinction between progressives and moderates. You did seem to benefit from your association with that national fight.”
Newman responded, “I think we benefited from it because there are people in the district that appreciate that I have a strong environmental record. I want to address the climate crisis. I believe in the objectives of the Green New Deal. I believe in ‘Medicare for all.’”