AOC laments GOP momentum ahead of midterms: We're at the 'precipice of fascism in this country'
Speaking of the upcoming elections, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez added, 'the stakes are really high right now'
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., claimed that America is on the "precipice of fascism," while warning about the "incredibly high" stakes of the upcoming midterm elections.
The congresswoman drummed up fear about the Republican Party during the latest episode of the "Pod Save America" podcast, hosted by former Barack Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, former speechwriter and liberal comedian Jon Lovett, former Obama senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer and liberal commentator Tommy Vietor.
The hosts spoke with the congresswoman from New York and member of "The Squad" about the importance of voting for Democrats in the midterm elections, otherwise "authoritarian Republicans" would bring the "criminalization of everything," just like they allegedly want to criminalize abortion.
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WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 26: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a news conference to discuss legislation that would strengthen Social Security benefits, on Capitol Hill October 26, 2021 in Washington, DC. The lawmakers discussed their proposed bill, called the Social Security 2100 Act, which would include increased minimum benefits and add caregiver credits for people who have to leave the workforce to care for children or elderly family members. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The hosts began their discussion with Ocasio-Cortez by mentioning their majority liberal listeners "are freaking out" because they’re "not loving what they’re seeing the last couple of weeks" in terms of how Democratic candidates are polling.
They asked the lawmaker, "How are you feeling about the elections and like, what’s your pitch to our audience, to everyone about why we need to turn out in midterms and volunteer?"
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She replied by softly dismissing the latest polling, saying, "I think polling data, it’s a data pint, but it’s really not the end all, be all, and if anything, it should act as just a motivator."
Ocasio-Cortez then declared, "The stakes of this midterm are so incredibly high. If Republicans take the House, they have stated in no unclear terms that they intend to support a national criminal abortion ban, that they want to hold the United States economy hostage in order to gut Social Security and Medicare."
She added, "The list goes on" and elaborated, "Climate change, criminalization of everything, all this stuff, not to mention just trying to put a halt to any of the progress President Biden has been trying to make and the progress that he has been making."
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"If anything, I think that the discontent is that we need to be doing so much more," she claimed, adding, "the stakes are really high right now. It’s very serious."
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks at a protest during International Workers Day in Foley Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., May 1, 2022. (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)
Ocasio-Cortez provided an anecdote about a flight attendant she met recently, who tearfully asked the lawmaker if everything would be alright. She recounted, "I was on a flight, on the way out here and the flight attendant just kind of came up to me and she just started getting tears in her eyes. And she just said, ‘I’m just so scared. I’m just so scared. Are we going to be OK?’"
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She claimed, "What I had to really tell her was, ‘Listen, I’m not going to tell you not to worry. I think we need to work really, really hard because we are still very much at this very critical precipice of fascism in this country and that’s very, very real."
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks as she joins abortion-rights activists as they demonstrate following Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years, a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court's landmark abortion cases. ((AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin))