Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke on “Meet The Press” Sunday with Kristen Welker about hot topics including the war in Israel, President Joe Biden’s struggle to attract young voters and the 2024 election. AOC told Welker that there is a reason some young Americans are struggling to support the Biden campaign.
“I think what we are seeing right now throughout the country is that young people are appalled at the violence and the indiscriminate loss of life” in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war, Ocasio-Cortez opined.
“We are not just seeing 25,000 people that have died in Gaza,” she added. “We are seeing the starvation of millions of people, the displacement of over 2 million Gazans. We have South Africa that has mounted a court in [the International Court of Justice]. The ICJ ruled this week that Israel has a grave responsibility to prevent genocide.”
Welker asked Ocasio-Cortez about a potential hostage deal that could result in a two-month ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages, asking, “Given the argument by Israel, by the U.S. government, that applying pressure to Hamas is the only way to get the hostages out, do you think that Israel’s strategy on the point of the hostages has been effective?”
“I do not,” Ocasio-Cortez replied. “We know that Hamas as an organization, it does not have any regard for human life. I think that, in Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7th, they knew what they were bringing on. They knew the violence that they were bringing on. And we have seen that. They understood the asymmetric attack that Israel will put out.”
She added, “Israel has been indiscriminately attacking Gazans. And we have seen over 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, over 70% of whom are women and children. Using 25,000 lives as leverage, and the idea that that is going to pressure Hamas, they are accountable to very little.”
“But I think what is most important is saving these lives, ensuring the release of hostages, and, in my view, negotiating a ceasefire,” Ocasio-Cortez concluded.
The pair also discussed the upcoming election. Welker asked, “Do you think, in this very moment, President Biden is doing a good enough job explaining to voters why they should vote for him and not just against former President Trump?”
Ocasio-Cortez was clear: “I think we can certainly do more to be advancing our vision.”
“And I believe that we have a strong vision that we can run on,” she added. “You know, and for what it’s worth, the president has said, ‘If you give me the House, and if you give me the Senate and reelect me to the presidency, we will codify abortion rights and the right to choose in this country. We’ll codify reproductive rights.’”
But there’s still more that the campaign and Biden supporters can do, she added.
“I think we can do more. I think we need to be talking more about health care,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “Of course, me as a progressive, I want to see the age of Medicare drop — whether it’s to 50, as the president has discussed earlier, or to zero, as is my preference, to extend Medicare to all people in the United States of America.”
“But I believe that we can be doing more,” she said. “We can talk even more about the fact that public colleges and universities should be tuition-free or reduced. The president has advanced student loan forgiveness just this month for people who have taken out SAVE loans under $12,000. They will see their loans wiped out.”
She concluded, “But I do believe that advancing that affirmative vision is going to be very, very important as well as really laying out and showing, between now and November, through our governing decisions, when we have that power in the White House, what we are willing to do with it.”
Watch the interview with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the video above.
