Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lashed out at Republican John Kasich in an email to supporters prior to his speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
Kasich, who was governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019, and other Republicans were invited to speak in favor of Joe Biden at the convention on Monday. Ocasio-Cortez will also be addressing the largely virtual conference, but the liberal firebrand’s speech has been limited to just one minute. In the Monday evening email, her team said Kasich doesn’t represent Democrats.
The email began with an olive branch that said she was “glad that John Kasich has recognized the importance of supporting a Biden-Harris Ticket.”
“We hope that he can convince more people of the reality that Donald Trump is an existential threat to our democracy and nation at large,” the email said. “But let’s be extremely clear about something: An anti-choice, anti-worker Republican does not get to decide who represents the Democratic Party. Period. And he absolutely does not get to compare Alexandria to ‘far-right’ figures that define the Republican Party.”
The New York Democrat’s swipe came after Kasich said she doesn’t represent the party as a whole and is “just a part, just some member of it.”
President Trump joined Ocasio-Cortez in bashing Kasich’s appearance at the convention.
“He was a loser as a Republican and he’ll be a loser as a Democrat,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “Major loser as a Republican. I guess you can quote me on that. John was a loser as a Republican. Never even came close. And as a Democrat, he’ll be an even greater loser.”
Three other Republicans are set to endorse Biden on the first night of the convention. The speakers include former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former New York Rep. Susan Molinari, and former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.
