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Ocasio-Cortez Unloads On Democrat Leadership: ‘We Cannot Accept No For An Answer’

   DailyWire.com
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 21: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks during the news conference introducing legislation to give the Department of Health and Human Services the authority to create federal eviction moratoriums outside the Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021.
Bill Clark / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) slammed Democrat leadership after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced that he could not vote for President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act.

“People can be mad at Manchin all they want, but we knew he would do this months ago,” she said. “Where we need answers from are the leaders who promised a path on [Build Back Better] if [the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework] passed: Biden & Dem leaders. *They* chose to move BIF alone instead of w/ BBB, not Manchin. So they need to fix it.”

Manchin’s announcement dooms Democrats’ chances of passing the multi-trillion social spending bill, which experts say will add to the national debt, despite the Biden administration’s repeated claim that it would cost nothing.

“I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can’t. I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there,” Manchin told Fox News anchor Bret Baier Sunday morning. “This is a no on this legislation. I have tried everything I know to do. And the president has worked diligently. He’s been wonderful to work with. He knows I’ve had concerns and the problems I’ve had and, you know, the thing that we should all be directing our attention towards, the variant, a COVID that we have coming back at us in so many different aspects in different ways, it’s affecting our lives again.”

Ocasio-Cortez quickly lashed out at Manchin following his announcement, writing on Twitter: “When a handful of us in the House warned this would happen if Dem leaders gave Manchin everything he wanted 1st by moving BIF [Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework] before BBB [Build Back Better] instead of passing together, many ridiculed our position.”

“Maybe they’ll believe us next time. Or maybe people will just keep calling us naïve,” she continued. “Either way, we cannot accept no for an answer. Dem leadership — incl but not limited to the President himself and House Dem leadership — wrote a massive check on their credibility the night of the BIF vote in order to secure the votes they needed, *promising* passage of BBB.”

“To every member who brought up Manchin, they personally promised they had a solution & BBB would pass. It is simply not an option for Dem leaders to walk from BBB, voting rights, etc. They must find a way, just as they promised they would when we raised this inevitability,” she continued. “Some of us don’t have the luxury of giving up. We serve working, middle class, & poor people. We serve everyday workers getting ripped off & immigrants & Black communities & queer kids needing shelter. We will not walk away from them. And leadership can’t walk from them either.”

“People can be mad at Manchin all they want, but we knew he would do this months ago. Where we need answers from are the leaders who promised a path on BBB if BIF passed: Biden & Dem leaders. *They* chose to move BIF alone instead of w/ BBB, not Manchin. So they need to fix it,” she concluded. “We, as always, are here to fight for this agenda. What matters most to us is that it gets done. But we cannot just shrug our shoulders and accept this as some Charlie Brown moment. Our entire democracy is on the line. So we need to get back in there & get this sh*t done. Period.”

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