Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez concedes ‘tough night’ for Bernie Sanders

AOC maintained that there was a "generational" victory as younger voters are drawn to the policies of Sanders despite him losing in the recent Democratic primary elections

Dawn Onley

Mar 11, 2020

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New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for president, admitted that Tuesday’s Democratic primaries in six key states proved to be a “tough night” for Sanders.

Former Vice President Joe Biden decisively won Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Idaho. Sanders won North Dakota. Washington state is still determining its winner, showing Sanders and Biden tied in a dead heat. In 2016, Sanders took Michigan over Hillary Clinton.

“There’s no sugar-coating it. Tonight’s a tough night. Tonight’s a tough night electorally,” Ocasio-Cortez said Tuesday night on Instagram Live, according to Business Insider. She has backed Sanders for president since October.

However, Ocasio-Cortez said the votes he captured indicated a “generational” victory. She declared younger voters showed their support for the radical change that Sanders backs, for which the congresswoman says have already won “enormous, decisive arguments on many, many issues.”

“There’s a generational divide in the Democratic Party on health care, on climate change, on foreign policy,” Ocasio-Cortez said, according to Business Insider. She urged the progressive side of the party to “leverage” support for its policies to be included along with moderate Democratic politics.

She also told her IG followers to not grow weary but to keep hope alive.

“Never, ever, ever let your heart turn black,” Ocasio-Cortez said, directing her comment to the party’s youngest voters, reported Business Insider.

The congresswoman capped off her comments by entertaining a question about her own political aspirations in 2028 – and whether that could include the presidency.

“I want to level with all of you, I’m not a person that aspires to a position, I aspire to a mission,” she responded, according to Business Insider. “We can’t swing from one savior to another. There’s a lot of savior-ism in politics, like ‘Who’s next?’ and ‘Who’s gonna save us?’ And the answer is you. The answer is people.”