On Thursday, democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) violated her personal ban on Fox News and appeared on “Special Report with Bret Baier” in order to push her policy agenda in response to the coronavirus pandemic but ended up spending more time trying to explain why Sen. Bernie Sanders’ socialist “revolution” was running out of steam.
“Hey all, wanted to drop a [post] for accountability,” the freshman representative tweeted Thursday ahead of the interview. “I usually don’t go on FOX on principle, but misinformation about coronavirus has made me concerned about risk. As a result I decided to go on [Bret Baier] to discuss coronavirus response [and] make the case for paid leave, Medicaid, etc.”
Hey all, wanted to drop a📝 for accountability.
I usually don’t go on FOX on principle, but misinformation about coronavirus has made me concerned about risk.
As a result I decided to go on @BretBaier to discuss coronavirus response + make the case for paid leave, Medicaid, etc
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 12, 2020
In the interview, Ocasio-Cortez pushed for Democratic policies, including federally mandated paid sick leave and expanded Medicaid, which, Republicans have pointed out, are among the left-wing party’s larger agenda items rather than being specifically geared toward response to the COVID-19 crisis.
She also took a few shots at the U.S., saying it’s “debatable” whether America has the world’s best health care system, as noted by HuffPost. Faulting the U.S. for not providing more access to COVID-19 testing, the radical rep said, “It almost seems the more wealthy and powerful you are, the more able you are to access a test.” (Full interview below.)
Following the interview, she highlighted that quote and again pushed for the expansion of coronavirus testing: “We need to dramatically expand #COVIDー19 testing and *processing* capacity. It’s imperative to our public health that everyone who needs a test can get it easily and for free as quickly as possible – no matter whether you’re a sports star or a single parent.”
Ocasio-Cortez followed that post up with a retweet of a Brian Stelter post slamming Fox News hosts: “Anonymous Fox producer: As the virus spreads, ‘the attempt to deflect and blame the media and Democrats from Trish Regan, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Lou Dobbs, Jesse Watters, and Greg Gutfeld… is really irresponsible and hazardous to our viewers,'” wrote Stelter in the retweeted post.
We need to dramatically expand #COVIDー19 testing and *processing* capacity.
It’s imperative to our public health that everyone who needs a test can get it easily and for free as quickly as possible – no matter whether you’re a sports star or a single parent. https://t.co/CbEibvr8r9
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 13, 2020
Anonymous Fox producer: As the virus spreads, "the attempt to deflect and blame the media and Democrats from Trish Regan, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Lou Dobbs, Jesse Watters, and Greg Gutfeld… is really irresponsible and hazardous to our viewers" https://t.co/Cl1QPoMc2s
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 13, 2020
While Ocasio-Cortez chose to make her first appearance on Fox News in order to promote her policy agenda, as The Daily Wire reported, she ended up finding herself explaining why the candidate for whom she’s been, as Baier put it, the “most prominent surrogate” is increasingly getting trounced by former Vice President Joe Biden in the primary.
One of the reasons Sanders is losing, Ocasio-Cortez claimed, is voter suppression in Democratic Party-run primaries.
“You did a campaign event at the University of Michigan, 10,000 people, it was rock star status, but those kids did not show up at least if you look at the numbers, just overall this race. So, how can you say the progressive position is still prevailing nationwide when Joe Biden is winning so much?” Baier asked.
“Well, I think one thing that isn’t being talked about is that rampant voter suppression in this country,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “Right there in Ann Arbor where we had that rally, those kids were waiting three hours in line to vote in Michigan. And so, when we talk about who’s turning out and who’s not turning out, we absolutely —”
“So, just to be clear, you’re saying you think voters didn’t get to vote who wanted to vote in Michigan?” asked Baier.
“Absolutely,” she replied. “Obviously, there’s more that we need to do in terms of turning out youth voters, it’s, we need to make sure we are inspiring young people to turn out, but when you do turn out, you should not be waiting three, four, seven hours in order to vote and that causes people to leave.”
Watch AOC’s interview with Baier below via Fox News: