Rep. Sarah McBride Details Unique Bond with AOC Over the ‘Spotlight' They've Both Faced in Congress (Exclusive)

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Rep. Sarah McBride tells PEOPLE that AOC is "a friend and someone who I have turned to for advice" during her first term in the House
In a powerful conversation with AOC featured in the State of Firsts documentary about her run for Congress, McBride discusses the pressures she faces as the first openly trans congresswoman
State of Firsts premieres June 7 at the Tribeca Festival and screens through June11Rep. Sarah McBride has a strong ally in Congress in one of the House's most visible figures: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
McBride, 34, tells PEOPLE that AOC, 35, has been a source of support since she began her first term in Congress in January. McBride, who made history when she became the first openly transgender person to be elected to the House in November 2024, is the subject of the new State of Firsts documentary from director Chase Joynt, which follows her campaign for Congress.
In one scene from the documentary filmed after she won her seat as a U.S. representative from Delaware, McBride and AOC sit down in her office for a chat about "firsts." While speaking to PEOPLE ahead of State of First's Saturday June 7 premiere at the Tribeca Festival, McBride detailed her important bond with the lawmaker.
"She's definitely become a friend and someone who I have turned to for advice. She entered Congress with a profile that exceeds mine with a lot of attention," McBride says. "And you know, it wasn't always easy for her."
AOC made history in 2018 as the youngest women ever elected to Congress and currently represents New York's 14th congressional district. But in her first term, she said she faced backlash for her outfits and was treated like an intern.
McBride says AOC's struggles in her first term have strengthened their connection.
"I have often gone to her as one of the few people who knows what it's like coming in as a new member, as a freshman and having a spotlight on you that exceeds what most freshmen have," McBride says, noting, "The challenge of navigating a new place, a new workplace with that spotlight, with those attacks, there are very few people who have that experience."
During the meeting between the two congresswomen featured in State of Firsts, the Delaware lawmaker tells AOC she's "struggling with protecting my voice and my ability to be seen and heard authentically for who I am and what I am here to focus on, and the inevitable pool that others are trying to pull me in."
Ocasio-Cortez nods as she replies, "What people don't see and what they don't really experience is that being the first means being the only."
She continues, "The immense amount of expectation placed on anyone who's a first, in my experience, that is not something that goes away."
She then becomes heated over critics who have attacked McBride for her gender identity, telling her, "What they go after is your essential dignity as a human being. And, to be frank, that's what really pisses me off about this."
"I want to respect your autonomy and I want to respect your story and how you want to handle this for yourself, but I also want to clock these motherf------," she exclaims.
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In a moment also included in State of Firsts, AOC hits back after the House bans trans people from using the Capitol's single-sex bathrooms that match their gender identity, calling the proposal "disgusting" in an interview that first aired on Spectrum News.
"All it does is allow these Republicans to go around and bully any woman who isn't wearing a skirt because they think she might not look woman enough,' she says in the interview.
While speaking with PEOPLE, McBride says AOC is someone she has "come to rely on for advice," adding, "She certainly has become a friend and I really deeply respect her."
State of Firsts premieres at Tribeca Festival on June 7.
Read the original article on People