Ocasio-Cortez: Schumer, Jeffries leading shutdown fight for Democrats

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in a new interview dismissed speculation over her influence in the government shutdown fight, saying that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) are leading Democrats.

“[Republicans] know that the people that they need to be negotiating with, and who they are negotiating with, are Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer,” Ocasio-Cortez told NBC on Thursday.

She called comments by top Republicans that her rumored bid for Schumer’s Senate seat may be influencing his decisions in the shutdown fight “ridiculous” and “desperate.”

“It is so important to understand that these people are all talk,” she said. “They are all talk. They are negotiating with Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic leadership, and Democrats are united to that end.”

Several Republicans, including Vice President Vance, have said that Schumer led Senate Democrats in voting against a stopgap bill that would fund the government until Nov. 21 out of fear of alienating his left-wing base as Ocasio-Cortez reportedly mulls a run for his seat.

“The reason why the American people’s government is shut down is because Chuck Schumer is listening to the far-left radicals in his party, because he’s terrified of a primary challenge,” Vance told reporters on Wednesday.

GOP Senate and House leadership have also portrayed Schumer’s actions as influenced by Ocasio-Cortez, including Sen. Roger Marshall (Kansas), Sen. Katie Boyd Britt (Alabama), and others. 

“He is afraid of AOC over a clean [continuing resolution],” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said. 

Schumer earlier this year received sharp criticism for voting alongside nine Democratic senators to advance a Republican-drafted six-month government funding bill. 

Ocasio-Cortez slammed the vote at the time, calling it a “tremendous mistake.”

Ocasio-Cortez said in the NBC interview that the caucus was “tremendously united” in their government shutdown fight. 

While she did not directly address her rumored Senate bid for Schumer’s seat, she said focusing on it is distracting from negotiations.

“We can’t allow all of this nonsense to distract us from the fact that starting today people’s premiums are going to be doubling,” Ocasio-Cortez said. 

“People are going to die,” she added. “Nobody cares about some election years from now. And the more people want to talk about that, the more callous they’re being about the realities that everyday Americans are facing.”