Speaking at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics on Friday, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) issued a warning to the left regarding its recent, fragile overlap with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
Despite a growing trend of progressives finding common ground with the Georgia Republican following her fallout with former President Donald Trump, Ocasio-Cortez made it clear she sees a “firm line” that should not be crossed.
The congresswoman’s comments came during a Q&A session when a student questioned her about past statements regarding “white supremacist sympathizers” in the House.
The student asked if such rhetoric makes bipartisanship more difficult, pointing to Ocasio-Cortez’s recent collaboration with Republican Representative Tim Burchett on a bill to ban congressional insider trading.
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Ocasio-Cortez stood by her previous assessment, noting that political friction is a two-way street. “Congressman Burchett has called me a communist, and a witch, and whatever it is,” she said, adding that she is willing to look past personal insults to achieve specific policy goals like banning stock trading. “I care about results,” she told the audience.
However, she argued that bipartisanship has its limits, specifically naming Greene as someone the progressive movement should avoid as a partner.
The New York Democrat characterized Greene as a “proven bigot and anti-Semite,” suggesting that collaborating with her on sensitive foreign policy issues would be a strategic mistake for the left.
“I personally do not trust someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene… on the issues of what is good for Gazans and Israelis. I don’t!” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I don’t think that it benefits our movement, in that instance, to align the left with white nationalists. I don’t think it serves us.”
Throughout the exchange, Ocasio-Cortez emphasized that choosing whether to work across the aisle is a matter of discerning “intent” and “outcomes.”
While she defended her work with some Republicans on financial ethics, she remained adamant that the progressive movement must look at the “context” and “where we think that train would go” before forming alliances with firebrand figures like Greene.
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