Progressive chair on possible Ocasio-Cortez White House bid: ‘The sky is the limit'
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said he thinks 'the sky is the limit' for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) when asked whether she could be a contender for president.
'I think the sky is the limit for Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, and she will be making her own decisions about whether she stays in the House or runs for anything else in the future,' Casar told NBC News's Kristen Welker in an interview Wednesday on 'Meet the Press Now.'
Ocasio-Cortez has been crisscrossing the country in recent months as part of the 'Fighting Oligarchy' tour with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that has drawn massive crowds and reignited speculation about the congresswoman's political future.
The tour has been billed as 'hitting the road to have real discussions across America on how we move forward to take on the Oligarchs and corporate interests who have so much power and influence in this country.'
Casar said Democrats need to pay attention to the way Ocasio-Cortez, who is 'just a member of the House, continues to be able to speak to so many millions of people all across the country.'
'For too long, I think, in the House, we just had this view that whoever's been there the longest should be the first person in line,' Casar said in the interview, reflecting on the future leadership of the party.
'When, instead, I think, as a Democratic Party, we should be looking to messengers like Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez that could speak to millions of people.'
Casar also suggested Democrats model some of the New York Democrat's messaging, including on billionaires, adding, 'And we shouldn't try to avoid controversy.'
'Donald Trump certainly doesn't avoid controversy,' Casar said. 'We should be willing to take strong stands that get people talking about who the Democrats really are — so that the Republicans don't fill the void talking about us.'
'I think we should be going right after guys like Elon Musk, but Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, too. We should stop acting like these billionaires are friends of the working person,' he continued. 'Trump, Musk, Bezos, all of them should be the folks that the Democratic Party is standing up against, so that way people know that we're actually for them.'
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