Activist Ocasio-Cortez, Trump celebrate after primaries
NEW YORK — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28year-old former bartender and Bernie Sanders campaign organizer who won a stunning congressional primary victory against a powerful New York incumbent Tuesday, said she would support impeaching President Donald Trump if she wins in November.
“I would support impeachment,” the activist and first-time candidate told CNN on Wednesday. “I think that, you know, we have the grounds to do it.
“Ultimately, what we need to focus on is ensuring that when people break the law … that we have to hold everyone accountable and that no person is above that law,” she added.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez defeated Rep. Joe Crowley by a double-digit margin in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for New York’s 14th District.
Mr. Trump, perhaps unaware of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s politics, applauded Mr. Crowley’ s defeat late Tuesday.
“Wow! Big Trump Hater Congressman Joe Crowley, who many expected was going to take Nancy Pelosi’s place, just LOST his primary election. In other words, he’s out!” Mr. Trump tweeted. “That is a big one that nobody saw happening. Perhaps he should have been nicer, and more respectful, to his President!”
Mr. Trump had reason to celebrate Tuesday as all three of his endorsed candidates survived primary challenges that could have embarrassed himand the party.
Those included New York Rep. Dan Donovan, who defeated convicted felon Michael Grimm in New York City’s only Republican stronghold, and former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who once branded Mr. Trump “a fraud” but has warmed to the president in the past two years. Yet none of the day’s contests mattered more to Mr. Trump than the onein South Carolina.
Gov. Henry McMaster, one of the president’s earliest and strongest supporters, survived an unusually tough challenge from a political newcomer, self-made Republican millionaire John Warren.
Mr. Trump tweeted “Congratulations to Governor Henry McMaster on your BIG election win! South Carolina loves you. We are all proud of you and Peggy!”
While Mr. Crowley has been a vocal critic of the president, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez — whoran as a progressive alternative — openly questioned Mr. Trump’s business ties and noted the ongoing federal investigations into the president’ s campaign.
“I think that there are serious grounds in violations of the emoluments clause from day one,” she said. “I think that that is first and foremost one of the basic elements and violations on that and then — once again, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen over the next few months. There are several investigations — one or more investigations happening — but I think from day one we had violations of the emoluments clause with the presidency.”
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and other liberal candidates have run far to the left of moderate Democrats, calling for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement following Mr. Trump’s “zero tolerance” border policy of separating parents from their children, and backing a single-payer healthplan.
She even said the federal government would help guarantee a job for every man or woman who wanted one, a plan that would likely require hundreds of billions of dollars in additional spending.
Her rhetoric matched her agenda, promising a more inclusive vision for governance that would unabashedly confront social injustice.
“We took that message to doors that had never been knocked on before,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said during an interview with CNN. “We spoke to communities that have typically been, I think, dismissed, and they responded. When people feel they are being spoken directly to, they’ll do things like turn out in an off year midterm primary.”