Ocasio-Cortez says Democrats are 'unifying,' focused on 'working people' in midterms

In the wake of progressive Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's victory over centrist Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan's Senate primary on Tuesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the party is experiencing "a time of renewal" and is "unifying" and focused on winning in November.

"We understand that our priority is the working class of this country, and we have to make the case that we're here to make people's lives better," Ocasio-Cortez told ABC News' "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl. "The Republican Party right now is jacking up prices, making housing impossible to afford, and we are focused on everything from healthcare to your grocery bill and making it more affordable for, for working people."

Ocasio-Cortez endorsed El-Sayed in July, campaigned with him in the state and appeared with him in ads.

El-Sayed survived millions in super PAC spending aimed at branding him too extreme for a race that could determine who controls the Senate in the next Congress, ultimately winning with less than 50% of the vote. His opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens, had the backing of the Democratic establishment, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and retiring Sen. Gary Peters -- both of whom have since coalesced around El-Sayed.

Concern from moderates

Some moderate Democrats have raised alarms over democratic socialist candidates ousting longtime incumbents in solidly blue districts from New York to Colorado. After the New York primary, centrist Democrats led by Reps. Tom Suozzi and Adam Gray signed a letter declaring, "We are capitalist, not socialist." Democratic group Third Way pledged $15 million to counter democratic socialism ahead of the 2028 elections, calling it a "mortal danger."

Ocasio-Cortez responded: "I don't think that we should be worried about what somebody somewhere believes. I think we should be focused on what our plan to improve people's lives are."

Asked whether Twitch streamer Hasan Piker -- who endorsed and campaigned for El-Sayed but has faced backlash over controversial comments -- should have a continued role in the progressive movement, Ocasio-Cortez pushed back on the premise, calling it part of a broader tactical debate among party consultants.

She argued Democrats can't afford to be selective about which platforms they engage with if they want to win back young voters, a demographic she said the party lost last election.

"Much hay was made about the fact that we lost young men in the last election, and many of the same consultants that are wringing their hands today were the same ones talking about how we need to go on Joe Rogan and we need to be not, not so, you know, willing to engage in cancel culture," she said.

She also pointed to there being a "generational tidal wave" of younger voters taking part in elections.

"Millennials are not punk kids anymore," Ocasio-Cortez said. "We're grown adults with mortgages and kids, and that generation is starting to be decisive at the polls, and there is anger at being ignored, sidelined, having our economic futures mortgaged by the generations that came before us on everything from the economy to climate, and we're taking the reins."

Endorsement strategy

Ocasio-Cortez has endorsed sparingly compared to other lawmakers on the left, though nearly all her picks have won their primaries. Notably, she hasn't endorsed insurgent House candidates challenging Democratic incumbents.

Responding to progressives who have called her strategy too cautious, she noted the contrast with 2018 when she unseated an incumbent without institutional support: "I wasn't endorsed by anybody when I was running ... I don't think I was endorsed by a single elected official when I was running for office."

She added that "politics is a workplace" on why she in part has not endorsed in races against fellow members of the House, while noting that she endorsed challengers to incumbents in the New York State Assembly.

"I don't work in state government, which gives me a greater freedom to be able to do that."

'Woke 1 was crazy'

Pressed on past statements from figures like Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate and democratic socialist Francesca Hong, who previously called to abolish prisons and police, Ocasio-Cortez said she hasn't endorsed in that race and that "all politics are local,” but noted Hong has since clarified some of her positions.

Ocasio-Cortez also invoked New York City Council Member Chi Ossé's framing: "'Woke 1 was crazy,'" in reference to policy positions taken in the past by members of the left.

Asked whether the left went too far after 2020, she called the pandemic a distinct period but said those debates were "fruitful."

"The doors were really open in trying to entertain any and every policy that was going to get us to a better place," she said. "Of course, rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today, and I'm grateful that these candidates have the opportunity to present who they are to their electorate and what they're campaigning on in this moment."

Socialism vs. communism

Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America chapter, was asked to distinguish socialism from communism.

"One prevailing one is democracy, and I believe that democratic socialists are fundamentally pro-democracy, and we believe in the ballot box. We believe in respecting the outcomes of elections and governing democratically."

Confronted with parts of the national DSA platform -- including defunding the Department of Defense, abolishing police and prisons and abolishing the Senate -- she said "no" when asked if she aligns with those positions.

"I think that people are less interested in these academic debates, and they're more interested in how we're going to bring their bills down and make sure that they can afford to see a doctor," she said.

2028 aspirations

Asked about a New Hampshire poll showing her as Democrats' leading choice and whether she'd run for president, Ocasio-Cortez didn't rule it out.

"I haven't ruled out the possibility, and I'm very humbled to the tremendous amount of support out there." She said her focus remains on the midterms, not "our individual aspirations or plans."

Asked whether a Senate run against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was also on the table, she gave a similarly open-ended answer: "I think that anything is possible at this juncture."