Bernie Sanders camp blasted AOC’s Iowa rally performance last month, report says

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When U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez filled in for Bernie Sanders at an Iowa campaign rally last month, her performance ended up irritating the Sanders camp, according to a report.

The New York Democrat and fellow Sanders supporter Michael Moore shared top billing at the event in Ames, home of Iowa State University, because Sanders was busy attending President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial in Washington.

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But Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir wasn’t happy that Ocasio-Cortez neglected to mention Sanders’ name while speaking to the crowd – as Fox News reported at the time – and others on the Sanders team thought the congresswoman went too far by encouraging the crowd not to cooperate with U.S. immigration officials as they pursue illegal immigrants, Vanity Fair reported this week.

“Organizing is about tipping people off if you start to see that ICE and CBP are in communities, to try and keep people safe,” Ocasio-Cortez had said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection – two agencies that have been at odds with the nation’s “sanctuary cities” and other communities vowing not to cooperate with federal agents on immigration matters.

At the time, Ocasio-Cortez’s immigration comments drew swift criticism from Tom Homan, former acting director of ICE, who called her remarks “dangerous” and “idiotic.”

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“I’m disgusted,” Homan said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends Weekend.” “She says you want to tip off the community to keep the community safe? That's what ICE is doing.”

For their part, the Ocasio-Cortez camp was irked when Sanders accepted an endorsement from comedian Joe Rogan, host of “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Vanity Fair reported. Critics on the left have accused Rogan of appealing to “white bigots,” as Fox News reported last month.

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The 30-year-old Ocasio-Cortez – as well as fellow “Squad” members, U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. – have been key surrogates for the 78-year-old Sanders as he tries to appeal to younger Democratic voters, in competition with 77-year-old Joe Biden and 70-year-old Elizabeth Warren, as the septuagenarians each try to fend off 38-year-old Pete Buttigieg and 59-year-old Amy Klobuchar for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination.

Ocasio-Cortez didn't comment to Vanity Fair, but whatever tensions may have existed between her and the Sanders camp last month appear to have eased, the article notes. While Ocasio-Cortez was absent from Sanders rallies just prior to the Feb. 3 caucuses, she was back stumping for Sanders in New Hampshire this week.