Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders melted down during a Wednesday town hall on CNN in response to a question about her possibly challenging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a Senate primary.
President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others have suspected that Schumer voted to shut the government down on Oct. 1 out of fear that Ocasio-Cortez will challenge him for his Senate seat. When CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked if Schumer should be worried about a primary challenge, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders both deflected by ranting about why the media was even posing that question.
“No!” Ocasio Cortez replied. “I don’t think this is about anything … this is what we’re talking about!”
“Let me jump in on this one,” Sanders said. “This is exactly what we’re talking about. We have a country that is falling apart. We’re at a housing crisis, a health care crisis, an education crisis, massive income and wealth inequality, a corrupt campaign finance system and the media says, ‘oh, you’re going to run, what are you going to run for? Nobody cares.’”
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Sanders accused Trump of attempts to “deflect attention away from the real issues” by accusing Schumer of caving to the far-left.
“And here, let me tell you what the real issue is. And let’s see if CNN talks about it,” Sanders said. “We’re living in the richest country in the history of the world, right? Alright, you tell me why we’re the only nation not to guarantee health care to all people. The only nation not to guarantee paid family and medical leave. Why we have a $7.25 cent an hour minimum wage. Why we have 800,000 people sleeping out on the street. Why we have a president who denies the reality of climate change. Why we have oligarchs on top who have more and more power every day.”
“Let’s talk about that issue, not her own political future. She’ll decide that,” Sanders continued.
Schumer had previously voted for the Republicans’ continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open and stated in September 2024 that a government shutdown would make the average American “suffer most.” Ocasio-Cortez dodged MSNBC’ Chris Hayes’ question on whether she threatened to challenge Schumer in a future primary.
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