America is still at the “very critical precipice of fascism,” according to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) who expressed fears over a GOP victory in the upcoming midterms.
Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), also known as “AOC,” joined the popular progressive-minded podcast Pod Save America on Tuesday to discuss the upcoming 2022 midterm elections and their “high stakes.”
After being told listeners were “not loving what they’re seeing in the last couple weeks,” AOC responded by attempting to downplay recent polls spelling doom for Democrats.
“I think polling data — it’s a data point, but it’s really not the end-all be-all,” adding that “if anything, it should act as just a motivator.”
Calling the midterm stakes “incredibly high,” the far-left “Squad” member warned of the “very serious” chance that Republicans could undo all the “progress” of the Biden administration.
“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, and the list goes on: climate change, criminalization of everything, all the stuff,” she said.
“Not to mention, just try to put a halt to any of the progress that President Biden has been trying to make and the progress that he has been making,” she added.
As a result, she stressed the need for Democrats and their supporters to be doing “so much more” to succeed.
She then recalled an alleged incident whereby an individual approached her and “just started getting tears in her eyes and she just said, ‘I’m just so scared, I’m just so scared. Are we gonna be OK?’”
Left to right are congresswomen Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar. They were at event to launch a canvass in Boston. Volunteers and supporters heard from the Congresswomen and then knock doors across the Massachusetts 7th district in support of Congresswoman Pressley. (Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
In response, AOC told the woman that she would not tell her “not to worry,” but that “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,” she added.
The progressive congresswoman’s comments come as various projections see the GOP retaking the majority in the House after midterms, which are in less than two weeks.
In the House of Representatives, Republicans are trying to take back the majority and unseat Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from her speakership.
To achieve this, Republicans need a net gain of only five seats in November.
Democrats took the House from Republicans in 2018.
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) (L) attends the 45th Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala to celebrate the start of Hispanic Heritage Month at Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC, September 15, 2022. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2020, after striving to win back the House, Republicans left Democrats with the slimmest majority in modern history, setting themselves up for the upper hand in the midterms.
Republicans winning either the House or Senate could mean Democrats and President Biden will have more difficulty passing their agenda items before the next presidential election.
On Wednesday, analysts at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics released an analysis stating that the Republicans will regain the majority in the House.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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