New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday that she plans to mobilize her large following base to oppose what Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer calls “argument” to accept the Family Republican Funding Act.
“I think there is a deep sense of anger and betrayal,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters in Leesburg, Virginia. She said she and her Democrats were “sending messages, calling, sending doves” to mobilize Democratic bases to violate Schumer's plan to allow the Republican funding bill to advance.
She slammed the decision of Senate Democrats who decided to “completely read and abandon the protection of the Constitution.”
When asked whether Senate Democrats need new leadership, Ocasio-Cortez will simply say she is focused on how to prevent the party from accepting the Republican bill.
“We have time to make corrections on this decision. Senate Democrats can vote. We can make corrections on courses, and that's the most important thing we have right now,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
New York Democrats have been one of the nation's most voiced Democratic officials to oppose the Housing Republican Funding Act. Ocasio-Cortez uses her social account to urge Democrats across the country to put the most pressure on their senators, the first major leverage in President Donald Trump’s second term.
Private Democrats were so angry at Schumer's decision that some began to encourage her to compete with Schumer in a primary. The member said the Congressional Progressive Caucus and others directly encouraged Ocasio-Cortez to run Thursday night after Schumer's announcement.
The member said the Democrats in Lisburg were “so angry” and even the centrist Democrats were “ready to write checks for the Senate”, adding that they “never seen people so angry”.
When CNN asked fellow Democrats to encourage her to challenge Schumer, Ocasio-Cortez declined to answer, saying she focused on blocking Democrats from supporting the fundraising bill: “We still have the opportunity to correct the course here, which is my priority.”
But, with reporters, Ocasio-Cortez didn't object to her criticism of Senate Democrats because he quit a vote, but except for a battlefield home Democrats are willing to accept it.
“Some members of Congress have won Trump-controlled areas in some of the hardest territories in the United States, and they’re walking up the board and taking countless risks to defend the American people in order to defend Social Security, Medicaid and Medicaid,” she said. “Just to see Senate Democrats even considering defaulting on Elon Musk, I think it’s a huge shot. And I think there’s a widespread sense of betrayal if things go as planned.”
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account on CNN.com
