Rep. Ilhan Omar said in a new interview that she’s confident she and other members of “The Squad” will be able to push Joseph R. Biden to the left if he’s elected president next week.
Speaking to “Axios on HBO,” the Minnesota Democrat said she and other progressives such as Sen. Bernard Sanders and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley were able to shape Mr. Biden’s campaign platform and that they expect that influence to continue in a possible Biden administration.
“There has been a level of responsiveness … to the policies that we are advocating for that we know will have not just a future in his administration, but a future in the upcoming administrations after his,” Mrs. Omar said.
“I know that when the policy platform was being put into place, a lot of our feedback was incorporated throughout his platform,” she continued. “In some spaces, it doesn’t go as far as, you know, I would like or [Mr. Sanders] would like. But we know that that responsiveness is a signal for us to do what we know how to do best as progressives, which is to push and to mobilize our base trying to accomplish these policy objectives.”
Ms. Omar said Mr. Biden’s top priorities should include Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, raising the federal minimum wage and banning fracking.
“A president is only as successful as his collaboration is with Congress,” Ms. Omar said. “We will have a cohort of progressives that are very clear about their objectives for wanting the implementation of Medicare for All and a Green New Deal and raising the minimum wage and not allowing for fracking.”
She also said “all” of Mr. Biden’s Cabinet positions “should be filled with progressive Democrats.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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