AOC says if Biden is elected he should appoint progressive leaders when asked if Bernie Sanders should get cabinet position

AOC alexandria ocasio cortez — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attends a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, July 17, 2019.

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden should appoint progressive leaders should he win the presidency in November.
“I believe that it’s critically important that the Biden administration appoint progressive leaders,” Ocasio-Cortez said on CNN Sunday when asked if Biden should appoint Sen. Bernie Sanders to cabinet if he is elected.
Ocasio-Cortez said while she will advocate for progressive issues if Biden is elected, Democrats “need to focus on winning the White House first.”
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Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden should appoint progressive leaders in his administration should he be elected, in response to a question on whether he should give Senator Bernie Sanders a seat in the cabinet.

In an interview with AOC on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, host Jake Tapper pressed on her thoughts on whether Bernie Sanders should be given a cabinet seat if Biden were elected.

“I believe that it’s critically important that the Biden administration appoint progressive leaders, ” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“This isn’t just about the progressive movement,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “This is about making sure we’re not just going back to how things were and rewinding the tape before the Trump administration, but this is about making sure how are we going to not just make up for lost time but leap into the future and actually ensure that we are making the investments and policy decisions that will create an advanced American society.”

“And frankly, conservative appointments will not get us there,” she added.

—State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 25, 2020

Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders have both issued their support for Biden in the November election.

In April, following Biden’s nomination, Ocasio-Cortez said it would be a “tightrope” to balance her support for the Democratic presidential nominee while backing a progressive movement. She made clear that in the event Biden is elected in November, she will advocate for progressive policies like the Green New Deal.

“It’s just about making sure that you continue to advocate for the issues that we find to be most important,” Ocasio-Cortez previously told Insider.

Also on Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez, who opposes fracking, told CNN that she would ask Biden to reconsider his position on banning fracking, which the Democratic nominee said he would not do.

“It will be a privilege to lobby him should we win the White House, but we need to focus on winning the White House first,” Ocasio-Cortez said.