Bernie Sanders and AOC: Is there a cold war brewing between the two firebrand left leaders?
Both of them found a common ground by the virtue of socialism. New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even went on to endorse Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders last October for this year's presidential election along with some other members of the 'Squad'. However, latest reports suggest that not everything is rosy between the two firebrand left leaders.
Ocasio-Cortez or 'AOC' was among the two high profile supporters of Sanders who turned up at a campaign rally in Iowa in January end before the Hawkeye State went to the caucuses. The presidential candidate himself was not present since he was tied up in Washington DC to attend the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in the Senate. While liberal filmmaker Michael Moore praised Sanders on the stage, 'AOC' did not take Sanders' name even once in her closing speech.
Sanders campaign upset with AOC's stance on immigration
This did not go down well with the Sanders campaign and according to a report in Vanity Fair published earlier this week, the veteran senator's campaign manager Faiz Shakir expressed his disappointment to his counterpart in AOC's campaign, adding that the fresh lawmaker's stance on immigration was too extreme.
"Organizing is about tipping people off if you start to see that ICE and CBP are in communities, to try and keep people safe," AOC said in the rally. "I’m not here to reform some of these systems when we talk about immigration. I'm here because Senator Sanders has actually committed to breaking up ICE and CBP. That's why I'm here," she added.
Some in the Sanders campaign were not happy with AOC's remarks opposing cooperation with the federal authorities, saying they were not in alignment with Sanders' stance, which opposes "open borders".
Ocasio-Cortez's campaign team also has its frustration with Sanders' team. The Vermont senator's acceptance of the endorsement of comedian Joe Rogan irked AOC's team and following the backlash, the former's team distanced the campaign from Rogan, yet saying that the campaign will require a "big tent" of supporters to get rid of Trump.
In reaction to the criticism over Rogan, Sanders' spokeswoman Briahna Joy Gray told The Hill in a statement: "The goal of our campaign is to build a multiracial, multigenerational movement that is large enough to defeat Donald Trump and the powerful special interests whose greed and corruption is the root cause of the outrageous inequality in America. Sharing a big tent requires including those who do not share every one of our beliefs while always making clear that we will never compromise our values."
"The truth is that, by standing together in solidarity, we share the values of love and respect that will move us in the direction of a more humane, more equal world."
AOC praised Sanders ahead of NH Primary
On February 10, AOC was seen accompanying Sanders at a rally at the University of New Hampshire where he made an intense speech. Sanders was seen embracing AOC on that occasion and she even said once that Trump was also in New Hampshire to address a rally because he feared Sanders' big crowds. "Because we know in every poll Bernie beats Trump," she said.
Sanders went on to win the first-of-the-nation primary in NH, narrowly beating (1.3 percentage points) Pete Buttigieg to avenge the close defeat in Iowa. Both the candidates ended up gaining nine delegates, although Buttigieg is leading the table with 22 delegates at the moment against Sanders' 21.