Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might not be given a time slot to speak at the Democratic National Convention later in August.
“I don’t think so,” Democratic strategist and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell told Politico when asked if Ocasio-Cortez will speak at the convention. “I think Bernie and Warren will speak, and they’ll represent the progressive wing of the party very ably.”
“If you picked AOC, why wouldn’t you pick Katie Porter, or why wouldn’t you pick Madeleine Dean or Mary Gay Scanlon?”
The list of speakers is expected to be announced during the second week of August, according to the New York Post.
The progressive wing of the Democratic Party that Ocasio-Cortez represents is expected to receive attention at the convention in the form of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran for president against Joe Biden but dropped out of the race in early April.
“I’m confident he will get his due,” Rep. Ro Khanna, a chairman in Sanders’s 2020 campaign, said about Sanders speaking at the convention. “And I’m confident that the Biden campaign has treated both Sen. Sanders and his supporters with respect and given us a seat at the table.”
Rendell agreed and said that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, another former presidential candidate, will be given time to speak as well.
“I think Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren will speak, and they’ll represent the progressive wing of the party very ably,” Rendell said.
2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is also expected to speak.
The Democratic convention will take place on Aug. 17, but the party has announced that Biden will accept the nomination from his home in Delaware due to coronavirus restrictions, and the convention is expected to be 100% virtual.
“The mayor has put in place a 225-person limit on people assembling in any one place. I think it’s the right thing to do,” Biden said. “I’ve wanted to set an example as to how we should respond individually to this crisis.”
“I think it’s going to be an exciting convention.”
