AOC can’t seem to escape a question she’s answered decisively several times: Will you vote for the Democratic nominee even if it isn’t Bernie Sanders? Each time, emphatically, AOC responds with, “Yes, I will.” Thursday night, the New York rep appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers in which he asked, yet again, her thoughts on the subject. Thankfully, it was less raucous and demeaning than her February appearance on The View, in which Whoopi Goldberg questioned her role in the party as being unclear, to which AOC replied, “I am a Democrat. I ran as a Democrat and am the Democratic Representative of New York’s 14th congressional district.” No matter where she goes, it seems she gets questioned for even the mildest of notions of “radical ideas” like Medicare for All, as Meghan McCain might put it.
“I’ve been concerned by some folks that say if Bernie’s the nominee, they won’t support him, and the other way around,” AOC told Meyers. “We really need to make sure that we defeat Donald Trump at the polls, assuming, and knowing, how insane it’s going to get between now and then.” In other words, stop focusing on who will and won’t get the nomination, and focus on getting your candidate in that position. It’s reductive to barrage AOC with this question, especially given the same question is rarely, if ever, given to Biden supporters in the Senate and House.
At a Phoenix rally Thursday night, Sanders said, “Biden is a decent guy, and I know if he wins the nomination, I will be there for him,” ending with “and if I win, he will be there for me.” Hopefully, we can trust that that is the truth. At the same rally, a man performed a Nazi salute and shouted anti-Semitic slurs at Sanders while holding a Swastika-bearing flag. Maybe we should be talking about this—the rising white nationalism targeted at our potential first Jewish president—rather than whether someone will vote for Biden if he wins after the primaries. It’s a better use of on-air time, trust us.