(Headline USA) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-N.Y., said this week it would be “the easiest decision” for her to support a primary challenge of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz.
Both of the fashion-forward lawmakers have been criticized by the Left for cozying up to moneyed special-interests after campaigning as mavericks.
But for Sinema, a Democrat in a largely red-leaning tossup state, political pragmatism has meant moving closer to the center of the aisle while Ocasio-Cortez’s base in the Bronx remains deep blue.
During an interview with MSNBC, Ocasio–Cortez was asked whether she, like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., would actively campaign against moderate Democrats such as Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., both of whom have held up President Joe Biden’s agenda.
“I don’t believe she’s really given a compelling case as to why she should be renominated as the Democratic nominee for United States Senate in Arizona,” Ocasio–Cortez replied. “She has proven herself an obstacle to the right to vote in the United States.”
The “Squad” leader then accused Sinema of being an enemy to the Left’s push for so-called civil rights—a dogwhistle term for Democrats’ attempt at a federal power-grab to secure permanent majorities by undermining election integrity.
“It is becoming a precipice and rather contributing to the threat that we have in stabilizing our democracy,” Ocasio–Cortez said.
“She is not standing up to corporate interest, in fact she is a profound ally to them” AOC continued. “And I believe that, you know, she is not doing what voters in Arizona sent her to do.”
Sinema and Manchin recently killed Biden’s attempt at passing a radical voting rights bill by refusing to help their colleagues in the Senate abolish or revise the filibuster.
“I mean, if it came down to someone like [far-left Rep.] Ruben Gallego and Kyrsten Sinema, I think that would be the easiest decision I would ever have to make,” Ocasio–Cortez said. “There is no comparison.”
Gallego has already announced his intention to primary her in 2024 after having been courted by unnamed congressional colleagues.
Sinema is facing plenty of criticism from other Arizona Democrats as well. Last week, the Arizona Democratic Party voted to censure her, citing “her failure to do whatever it takes to ensure the health of our democracy.”
