Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Stephen Colbert she’ll vote for President Biden — despite what she calls an ongoing “genocide” in Gaza.
“I will be voting for President Biden in November,” Ocasio-Cortez declared late Monday in an appearance on the late-night funny man’s show.
The progressive lawmaker acknowledged what she described as the righteousness of the so-called “uncommitted” protest vote against Biden in the Democratic presidential primary race.
But she predicted most of the rebels will come back to the fold if Biden takes effective steps to curb the Israeli offensive.
“I know and understand the threat of a Donald Trump presidency,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “The Democratic Party has always been a coalition party and we have to bring together people every time.”
More than 10% of Democratic primary voters in several states have picked “uncommitted” delegates to signal disagreement with Biden’s strong backing of Israel’s war in Gaza. In New York City, an estimated 15% of Democrats submitted blank ballots to send the same message in last week’s walkover primary win for Biden.
The representative from New York’s 14th congressional district called on the White House and establishment Democrats to show that they respect the views of those critical of Israel in time to win them over for the campaign against Trump.
“These are folks that could have easily given way to cynicism and walked away from this process entirely,” she said. “It’s best that we do this now than for folks to stay home in November.”
Along with the war in Gaza, Ocasio-Cortez used the mostly chummy appearance to roast Republicans for spewing Russian propaganda on the war in Ukraine.
Colbert quoted Republican Rep. Mike Turner, who accused some of his GOP colleagues of parroting Kremlin talking points on the invasion of Ukraine.
“Can I get a witness?” he asked.
Ocasio-Cortez responded by calling out some of the staunchest MAGA lawmakers for spouting disinformation.
“If you turn on any [GOP-led] hearing in the last year, you will see Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert and all these folks engaged in wildly propagandistic rhetoric,” she said.
