Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she would ‘absolutely’ vote to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, said in a Sunday interview that she would “absolutely” vote to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, calling him a “weak speaker.”

“Would I cast that vote? Absolutely. Absolutely. I think Kevin McCarthy is a very weak speaker,” she said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He clearly has lost control of his caucus.”

She told CNN’s Jake Tapper that it’s not the Democrats’ responsibility to “save Republicans, from themselves, especially.”

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said she doesn’t intend to vote for a Republican speaker and couldn’t see Democrats voting to save Mr. McCarthy’s post unless there was some real negotiation between the two parties.

“I don’t think we give up votes for free,” she said.

She slammed Mr. McCarthy for waiting “until the final hour” to keep the government open and only for 45 days.

“We’re going to be right back in this place in November,” she said. “And I think that our main priority has to be the American people and what’s going on to keep our governance in a cohesive and strong place.”