At a townhall event in Arizona on Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) spoke about the state of the Democratic Party.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I believe that a minimum wage should cover the minimum cost to live.
00:07That makes sense.
00:10And by the way, you should also see that not being a living wage is actually a form of corporate welfare, too.
00:19Because these big companies, like Walmart and Amazon, often rely on food stamp programs and public coffers to cover the wages that they won't pay.
00:31I believe that homes are not slot machines for investors and big banks to extort working families out of every last dollar they have.
00:48A home is sacred.
00:52And when your landlord doubles your rent overnight or housing prices skyrocket because Wall Street treats our housing market like a casino,
01:01your government and your public servants should fight to help you keep an affordable roof over your head.
01:12I believe that our elected officials should take on abuses of corporate greed everywhere they find it.
01:21We must get big money out of politics.
01:29That is how we make sure that our country is not forsaken.
01:34In Arizona, that is why I don't and never will take money from industry lobbyists or corporations.
01:49You know, folks, Fox News would have, in the right wing, would have you believe that these American values are something out of a communist manifesto.
02:16And that we believe these things because we went to some college and read them in a book somewhere.
02:22But I can tell you that I don't believe in health care, labor, and human dignity because I'm an extremist.
02:30I believe these things because I was a waitress.
02:37Because I took toilets with my mom to avoid school.
02:41Because I worked on the ship to keep the lights on.
02:44Because I did leave a parenting answer every kid and I see my mom open the hospital bill a couple days later.
02:52Because on my birthday, I know what it feels to feel left behind.
03:00And I don't want us, I don't want any of us, to live like this anymore.
03:05We deserve better, Arizona. We deserve better than this.
03:10And let me tell you something.
03:15This isn't just about Republicans either.
03:20We need a Democratic Party that fights harder for us too.
03:35Hear what that means.
03:45That means our communities, each and every one of us, choosing and voting for Democrats and elected officials who know how to stand for the working class.
03:58Thank you. And I want to give you your flowers for a second.
04:05Because you all have been working overtime to make that happen.
04:09In fact, one thing I love about Arizonans is that you all have shown that if a U.S. Senator isn't fighting hard enough for you, you're not afraid to replace her with one who will.
04:25And that's how you got two-and-a-half Decembers in Mark Kelly and Rudy Gioia.
04:38And that's not all.
04:43Last week, when Republicans put up their draconian spending bill on the House,
04:52I want you to know that your representatives, Yasmin Ansari, who's here tonight, and Brett Stanton,
05:09and Mark Kelly, they all stood strong in voting no to the spending bill that cuts billions from working people.
05:28But the thing is, we need more people like them with the courage to brawl for the working class.
05:38You know what? You know which Arizonans did vote to gut Medicaid and jack up health care costs?
05:46David Schweikert.
05:53So folks, you know what that means.
05:57We need to come together and spend every day for the next year-and-a-half working to educate other Arizonans and give Schweikert the boot and replace him with a brawling Senator who will stand up for Arizona.