Following a livestream that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did about the future of Joe Biden’s presidency, Sen. Elizabeth Warren responded to concerns Saturday on MSNBC that some may be looking to keep Vice President Kamala Harris from being the Democratic Party’s new nominee.
Ocasio-Cortez spoke in a nearly hourlong livestream Thursday night where she talked about the private discussions politicians are having around getting Biden to step aside as their party’s nominee for a new candidate, amid calls for him to do so from the public, the media and other Democratic politicians.
“If you think that there is consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to leave, that Kamala, that they will support Kamala, Vice President Harris, you would be mistaken,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I’m in these rooms. I see what they say in conversations. A lot of them are not just interested in removing the president — they are interested in removing the whole ticket.”
Watch the full video from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez here:
When asked about the AOC video and “those who seek to leaprog Senator Harris” on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” Warren responded, “So look, Joe Biden is our nominee. As I said before, he has a really big decision to make. But what gives me a lot of hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ready to step up, to unite the party, to take on Donald Trump and to win in November.”
Warren pointed to the fact that voters have already shown support for Harris and that they knew she had to be ready to step into Biden’s shoes if needed. The president’s age, while a smaller concern, was among discussions in the 2020 campaign around who his vice president should be given what appeared to be a higher likelihood that they could run soon if Biden chose to be a one-term candidate.
“Remember, 80 million people voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020, knowing that Kamala Harris would be ready to step up if needed,” Warren said. “I’ve known Kamala for nearly 15 years now. Back when I was setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Kamala was attorney general of California, we worked side by side to try to fight back against giant banks that were cheating people.”
The senator went on to tout Harris’ strong opposition to a nationwide abortion bad following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, then drew the now increasingly popular contrast of Harris as a prosecutor up against former President Donald Trump, recently convicted of numerous felony charges.
“Look, if you’re running against a convicted felon, then a prosecutor like Kamala is really a good person to make that case,” Warren said. “No matter what happens, I will be out there fighting for Democrats. I believe we’re going to come together and we’re going to win in November.”
You can watch Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s MSNBC interview in the video below:
