Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turned down several requests in recent weeks to stump for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernard Sanders, HuffPost reported Friday.
Citing three people familiar with the discussions, the website reported that the progressive congresswoman and Sanders surrogate has repeatedly resisted efforts from the senator’s presidential campaign to have her appear at recent events promoting his candidacy.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, “declined multiple invitations” to speak at Sanders campaign events scheduled in more than a dozen states between Feb. 11 and March 8, the report said.
“It was like pulling teeth to get her to New Hampshire,” said an unnamed person familiar with the discussions, HuffPost reported.
Spokespeople for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and the Sanders campaign did not immediately answer messages from The Washington Times regarding the report.
“Senator Sanders and our campaign will never forget that in one of the most difficult moments for us, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez gave us a boost with her strong endorsement,” said Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir, HuffPost reported. “And she has remained a steady and consistent ally, supporter, surrogate and adviser to the senator ever since.”
“The plan was always that she would slow down her surrogate work in February, after Iowa, to focus on her re-elect and congressional duties,” explained Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, according to the report.
According to election-news website Ballotpedia, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, a first-term congresswoman, so far faces four challengers in New York’s June 23 Democratic congressional primary, including TV journalist Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.
Mr. Sanders, Vermont independent, launched his latest White House bid in February 2019, and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez officially endorsed the senator’s presidential campaign during a rally held for the White House hopeful in her hometown of Queens eight months later.
The congresswoman subsequently appeared at 15 major Sanders rallies and several smaller events after announcing her endorsement, including seven held in Iowa during a three-day span preceding the state’s caucuses in early February, HuffPost reported. She did not appear at another Sanders campaign event until 16 days later when she spoke at a rally held for the candidate in New Hampshire, however, the report said.
Previously the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr. Sanders has since lost that status fellow White House hopeful and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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