 I have been a supporter of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez since day one. You know, she came on my show, I interviewed her and then when she won, like, I had tears in my eyes because I truly believe that maybe that was the beginning of a new era in American politics. Maybe the left, finally, would actually be able to obtain power and effect change. But some of what AOC has been doing lately, it just, it flies in the face of reason. What she's doing doesn't make sense. She's making political calculations that are very obviously antithetical to what the left wants. Right? Now, I don't believe that we should tear down all of our allies. I think that we definitely need to hold them accountable. What I do want people to understand is that when red flags present themselves very clearly to us, we have to take those red flags seriously, even if it might make us feel uncomfortable to do so. I had to force myself to fight through the cognitive dissonance to vet Tulsi Gabbard. And it turns out she's not the real deal. She endorsed Joe Biden. I, you know, vetted Andrew Yang. And I went through why his agenda is actually very problematic. Elizabeth Warren abandoned progressives back in 2016. I don't think I was hard enough on her. Certainly, I was critical of her and was still criticized by centrists for being too hard on her. But those little red flags eventually add up. And it's to a point now where AOC is proving to us that even if she may still be an ally in spite of the article that I'm going to read to you, her being the new standard bearer of progressivism in the United States, the new successor to Bernie Sanders, I just don't see it. I don't see it. Certainly, she is an ally to us. I'm not going to discount, you know, her value and what she brings to the table. But what she's doing here, the things that I will talk to you about based on this political article, they're very serious. And I've seen some of this. And, you know, I thought I don't know if I should bring this up as an issue. Namely, one of them is her unwillingness to endorse Corey Bush. Corey Bush, as you all know, is someone who we desperately need in Congress. AOC enthusiastically endorsed her back in 2018. And now she's nowhere to be found. So we're going to read this article from Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbien of Politico, who write soon after her upset primary victory against the Democratic Party boss in 2018. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez traveled to St. Louis to prove her victory wasn't a one off by campaigning for Corey Bush, who was similarly taking on a long time Democratic congressman. Bush lost that race, but is challenging Representative William Lacey Clay again in an August primary. She has more money and higher name recognition and earned the endorsement of Bernie Sanders, but Ocasio-Cortez isn't helping Bush this time. Of the half dozen incumbent primary challengers, Justice Democrats is backing the cycle, Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed just two. Neither was a particularly risky move. Both candidates, Jessica Cisneros in Texas and Marie Newman in Illinois, were taking on conservative Democrats who oppose abortion rights and later earned the support of several prominent national Democrats. Ocasio-Cortez's reluctance marks a break with the outsider tactics of the activist left represented by groups like Justice Democrats. Ocasio-Cortez's shift coincides with turnover among top aides in her congressional office, replacing some outspoken radicals with more traditional political professionals, along with a broader reckoning on the left on how to expand Sanders' coalition after his failure to significantly do so in the presidential primary. Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement moves are not a fluke but part of a larger change over the past several months. After her disruptive burnt down early months in Congress, Ocasio-Cortez, who colleagues say is often conflict-averse than person, has increasingly been trying to work more within the system. She is building coalitions with fellow Democratic members and picking her fights more selectively. After starting some high-profile fights with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and tweaking Democratic colleagues on Twitter early in her tenure, Ocasio-Cortez has been more conciliatory toward other House Democrats. In February, she dubbed Pelosi the mama bear of the Democratic Party. That makes me want to vomit. Over the past few weeks, Ocasio-Cortez has also chided Sanders' supporters for online harassment and delivered soft critiques of Sanders and some of his allies for being too conflict-based. The moves have drawn surprise praise from some moderate and veteran Democrats. Near attendant, president of the Liberal Think Tank Center for American Progress and a longtime Hillary Clinton aide called Ocasio-Cortez's shift, quote, a sign of leadership. Instead of supporting justice Democrats' full slate of incumbent challengers, Ocasio-Cortez launched her own PAC earlier this year that's been more focused on electing progressives in Republican-held or open seats. Ocasio-Cortez declined it to be interviewed, but her new communications director, Lauren Hit, noted that Bush's August 4th primary is still several months away and that the congresswoman is monitoring other primaries. Quote, we don't usually endorse so far out, Hit said. Ocasio-Cortez, however, endorsed Newman six months before her primary and backed Cisneros more than four months before hers. The changes go beyond rhetoric and include personnel. Two of her most senior aides who worked on her insurgent campaign and co-founded Justice Democrats have left her operation. Chief of Staff, Saika Chakrabati, in August and communications director Corbin Shrent earlier this month. The hiring of Lauren Hit as trans replacement speaks to Ocasio-Cortez's new approach and experienced operative Hit has worked for more moderate Democrats like Governor John Hickenlooper and Representative Beto O'Rourke during their recent presidential bids as well as left-wing candidates such as former New York gubernatorial contender Cynthia Nixon. Chakrabati was a firebrand on the hill. After Ocasio-Cortez's victory in November of 2018, he earned enemies in Democratic caucus by declaring we got a primary folks. They were livid in June when he called some members new Southern Democrats. Ocasio-Cortez replaced him with legislative director Ariel Ekbland, who joined her office in January 2019 after working for Senator Kamala Harris. So long story short, she is withholding endorsements in crucial races, where she could actually make a difference. And on top of that, she is replacing the more firebrand members of her staff with establishment approved choices, if you will, embarrassing. And here's the thing. You have to acknowledge that the Democratic Party AOC, speaking directly to her, they are not your ally, they are your enemy. If somebody is punching you in the chest while another person is stabbing you, they're both bad, one maybe causing more harm to you objectively than the other. But the person who's punching you still isn't your ally, they're your enemy, and they're hurting you actively. So trying to align with the corporate wing of the party isn't going to help you get progressive policies passed. And now I'm not saying that she is capitulating when it comes to policy, but you've got to have the correct strategy if you actually want those policies codified into law. To try to work with Democrats who are very openly corrupt corporatists, to call Nancy Pelosi, mama bear of the Democratic Party, you're embarrassing yourself, you are embarrassing yourself. And this leads to people, I think rightfully thinking, you were co-opted in a number of ways. Maybe they've managed to bully you into silence because I've covered the articles of Democrats anonymously saying how horrible she is. So maybe she just got tired of fighting them and just decided this is easier for me going forward. I get it, but it's sad. Now you can tell how effective she is here, not necessarily at winning over the Democratic Party, but just getting their approval temporarily. Because we had that quote from near attendant and I also, I want to share what James Carville had to say about her. Because this gives you an indication as to why she's doing this. She's just tired of fighting them. The Democratic Party is the party of coalitions, not a cult, said James Carville, a top strategist for Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign and vocal critic of Sanders during the primary. I've observed her and I think she's really talented. Wait, James Carville is saying this, that's weird, that she's really smart. Maybe she is, I don't speak for her, coming to the conclusion that she wants to be part of the coalition. There it is. There it is. So they probably had a talk with her. Look, I get that you support all of these progressive policies. But coming to Congress protesting with the sunrise movement in the office of Nancy Pelosi, that's just not really how we do things here in DC. And she said it herself, there's a lot of corporate voices in your ear, a lot of voices that want you to acquiesce, that will put pressure on you to bend you and ultimately break you. And it seems like that's the indication that we're getting, that the establishment broke AOC. I think she probably still believes in all the policies she came to Congress believing in. But what this article tells us is that she has been deluded into thinking that working with the establishment is the only way forward. Like there were people quoted in this article saying, oh, this is a savvy move. No, it's not. You can't work with the enemy and expect to accomplish change because they're just going to placate you. They don't care about Medicare for all. They don't care about what your wing of the party has to say. They don't care. They don't like you AOC. And near attendant and James Carville, they're saying nice things about you to butter you up. But at the end of the day, they don't care about the left. So what are you doing? I don't get what you're doing. Look, this is the easier path for her. Objectively speaking, I get that, right? It's probably really stressful for her to constantly be at war with people who she has to work with every single day. But here's the thing. This is what you signed up for. You signed up exactly for this job. You promised us you'd be a fighter for us. And calling Nancy Pelosi, mama bear of the Democrats, I don't think that that's what people who voted for you wanted. They want you to go after Nancy Pelosi, who has blood on her hands. She refuses to back any of the policies that progressives want. So you can kiss her ass all you want. It's not going to change anything. So you don't have a choice. If you want progressive change, working with the Democrats is not the way to get progressive change. Fighting them at every step of the way is the way you get progressive change, because you're the one with credibility. You're the one who has millions of followers and they don't. So you were a bigger threat to them when you actually fought them. But now that they're twisting your arm and trying to butter you up, you think that you're actually going to get things done? No, of course not. Of course not. Now, part of me is worried about even talking about this because here's the thing. Like it or not, I feel as though I am a representative of progressives and Democratic socialists. And I don't feel like a representative, but what I'm saying is that Democratic Party loyalists near a tandem, Joanne Reed, they've used me before as an example as to how bad the Bernie Sanders movement is. So I try to watch my peas and queues as much as I possibly can while being authentic still. And I try not to be overly divisive, overly down. So it's like, by talking about this, I know what they're going to say about me, right? Joanne Reed has quoted me, or not quoted me, but paraphrased what I said before. NBC news articles have quoted me. And they try to portray me and other progressives to be fair as toxic, right? So by talking about this, people are going to say, oh, well look at Mike, he's just further proof that progressives and Democratic socialists are toxic. And this is why they're not serious about getting power because they're willing to tear down anyone. The first moment they show signs that they're not going to toe the progressive line or whatever that may be. But here's the thing, we know how powerful this system is. And I am smart enough to know that nothing I say or do, no matter how polite or civilized I try to be on camera, I'm not going to win them over. They're always going to be negative. So I have absolutely no reason to try to win these people over. And I want AOC to get that drift as well. Nothing she says or does will actually win them over. They don't like her. And so long as she truly believes in Medicare for all, they're not going to like her because she poses a threat to the status quo in the sense that she's doing or fighting for what their donors don't want. So by them trying to silence her, try to get her to acquiesce and co-op her, they're doing that for their own good, not for her good. And I think she needs to get that. And I'm not trying to imply that she's as bad as Elizabeth Warren because she endorsed Bernie Sanders. So she already proved that she has more courage than Elizabeth Warren ever had. But we have to take seriously the red flags and as a movement, we have to hold our own accountable and put pressure on them. Yes, they're gonna say, look at these Bernie bros, they're toxic, she endorsed Bernie and they're still attacking her. We have to hold our own accountable and politely tell AOC that working with the establishment is like making a deal with the devil. It's never for your own good. It's for their own good. And you're not going to get policies accomplished by working with them. You have to fight them and break them, not let them break you. That's what Elizabeth Warren didn't get. And that's why by trying to appease the center and the left she ended up appeasing nobody, right? You have to pick a side. This is a civil war in the Democratic Party. This is intro party warfare. So there's no way that you can walk that fine line and appease corporate Democrats and progressive Democrats simultaneously. You have to pick a side because our views are diametrically opposed. What we are in favor of, the corporate wing of the Democratic Party is against. We're diametrically opposed. So AOC has got to realize that this is not the right path. This is not the right path. You can't do this AOC. You have to endorse Cory Bush. You have to fight in the same way that you came into Congress fighting. And to even hire someone who worked with Beto O'Rourke or Kamala Harris shows that that's a big problem because the people who you work with in Congress who you see daily, who advise you little by little they will shape your world view. We saw how this affected Elizabeth Warren. Who she was when she announced her 2020 campaign was a different person by the end of it. And she already sucked when she announced, right? She was still the sell out spineless coward. But like comparing 2019 Warren to 2020 Warren, the difference is like night and day. So I'll end with this. So long as AOC continues fighting for the progressive policies that I want, I will always see her as an ally. But, but there's a caveat. I will never see her as a leader. I will never see her as the successor to Bernie Sanders movement. Because if you are willing to get in bed with the establishment, whatever you think may be the benefit of that. It's not gonna help you. You may think that doing this, kissing Nancy Pelosi's ass, hiring political operatives that worked with Kamala Harris and Beto O'Rourke is going to net you a benefit. Make you stronger, better position you to fight for policies like Medicare for All and a Green New Deal. But I promise you, it absolutely will not. The only option that we have, if we ever want to get progressive policies passed is to absolutely win over the corporate wing. And I don't mean win them over and get them on our side. I mean, win, beat them, kick them out of the party, force party realignment where they joined the Republican Party, take over the Democratic Party permanently. Working with them is not an option. And I say that not necessarily because I don't believe it to be true, but because empirical evidence, what we've seen proves it to be true. So, I've had my concerns with AOC for quite some time, namely the Cory Bush endorsement is something that I've been watching. And I'll just say, if she doesn't endorse Cory Bush, she's proving to everyone that she's not the real deal. And this is, it's a cowardly thing to do, to abandon someone who you desperately need in Congress with you to fight for the policies you say you believe in. So, you have no choice. If you genuinely want Medicare for All, Green New Deal, raising the normal wage, you have to endorse Cory Bush. You can still believe in those policies, but you're not serious about getting them if you're going to allow all these really important progressive primary challengers to just fight their own battles. Like, progressives worked like hell to get you elected. People like myself and Kyle Kalinsky berated Ro Khanna when he didn't endorse you, and then he did the dual endorsement, which is better than nothing, but we fought to get you elected and we fought to extend your platform. Don't betray us like this because you're not helping yourself and us get progressive policies. You're just helping the corporate wing.