Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised President Joe Biden for adopting a much more liberal agenda than even those on the progressive wing of his party could have expected.
The New York Democrat, who identifies as a socialist, said during a virtual town hall on Friday that the Democratic president has already “exceeded expectations that progressives had.”
“You know, I’ll be frank. I think a lot of us expected a much more conservative administration,” she said.
Biden’s “active invitation and willingness and collaboration with progressives in his first 100 days, or almost 100 days, has been very impressive,” she added.
Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Joe Biden’s far-left policies have “exceeded expectations” pic.twitter.com/LLhVQjqpwp
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Ocasio-Cortez, who has become the face of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, said Biden’s agenda has “impressed” her and that the Biden administration’s actions have been “not just in good faith but active incorporation of progressive legislation.”
“Biden announced that he plans to cut emissions by half by 2030,” she said. “I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that two years ago, it was almost unthinkable to think that Joe Biden would be making an announcement like that.”
While Ocasio-Cortez applauded Biden’s first 100 days in office, she said she would remain cautiously skeptical about whether he would continue incorporating liberal policies throughout his time in office.
“I think that it’s been good so far. I still think that it’s quite early because when it comes to some of these big things that have been passed, it’s pretty much been the COVID bill,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We’re in the process of shaping the infrastructure bill, but I think that the infrastructure bill will be a key indicator on if the administration is keeping or raising its ambitions or if that [American Rescue Plan] was a one-and-done situation and that we’re going smaller.”
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One issue Ocasio-Cortez specifically identified was the debate around the new infrastructure bill. She has been petitioning her colleagues and the Biden administration to be “a little bit more ambitious” toward the $2.3 trillion price tag.
