Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday that young voters would not be turned off by former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s opposition to a fracking ban, saying that Mr. Biden would more receptive to their lobbying.
“They want to vote for who they are going to lobby,” the New York Democrat said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Right now young people are so clear on their stances on many political issues that they believe that they want to vote for a president that is at least going to be receptive to their advocacy, activism and protest, frankly.”
“There is no question that Joe Biden is a much better person in that position to be receptive and actually listen to the voices of advocates than Donald Trump,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez added.
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked if she worried that “his opposition to a fracking ban is going to hurt young voter turnout.”
Mr. Biden has insisted that he would not ban fracking despite his anti-fossil fuel statements made during the Democratic primary, prompting alarm among climate activists who want to prohibit hydraulic fracturing, which is key to the U.S. shale boom and recent energy independence.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said she wasn’t worried about millennials staying home instead of voting, saying that “young people right now have a very disciplined activist mindset.”
“They are not here with the intent of voting for their favorite person or voting for someone that they think is perfect as president,” she said. “I think young people are actually quite disciplined, and quite realistic and pragmatic in their vote.”
“I think young people are actually quite disciplined and quite realistic and pragmatic in their vote,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says. “There is no question that Joe Biden is a much better person in that position to be receptive… than Donald Trump” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/6jhK57Vtdv
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 25, 2020
Mr. Biden said at Thursday’s debate that he would “transition from the oil industry,” and supports a fracking ban on federal lands.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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