Joe Biden rejected the notion that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was moving the Democratic Party further to the left.
In an interview with Axios that will air on HBO on Sunday, Biden said that the media and his political rivals have misjudged that Ocasio-Cortez, a freshman congresswoman from New York, is dictating the direction of Democrats. “You guys got it all wrong about what happened,” Biden said. “It’s just bad judgment. You all thought that what happened was the party moved extremely to the left after Hillary. AOC was the new party. She’s a bright, wonderful person. But where’s the party? Come on, man.”
Biden also rejected his Democratic presidential primary rivals’ plans for a government-run, “Medicare for all” healthcare system for the United States. “The party’s not there. The party’s not there at all,” Biden said. He explained that candidates advocating for the plan, like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, had misread their own party.
[Read more: Biden attacks voter at campaign event: ‘You’re a damn liar’]
