Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) says voter suppression is responsible for Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ loss in the Michigan Democratic presidential primary.
During her first appearance on Fox News, host of “Special Report” Bret Baier asked Ocasio-Cortez how she can say “the progressive position is prevailing nationwide” while former Vice President Joe Biden has taken the lead in the delegate count.
“I think one thing that isn’t being talked about is the rampant voter suppression in this country. Right there in Ann Arbor, where we had that rally, those kids were waiting three hours in line to vote in Michigan.”
Watch her comments below:
AOC is asked by @BretBaier "how can you say the progressive position is prevailing nationwide when Joe Biden is winning so much?"
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 12, 2020
She attributes the losses to voter suppression. pic.twitter.com/1YK5oo2SKO
Baier interjected to ask if she was suggesting that voters who wanted to vote were unable to.
“Absolutely,” she said, adding, “Obviously there’s also more that we need to do in terms of turning out youth voters.”
“But, when you do turn out, you should not be waiting three, four, seven hours to vote,” she added.
Several reports indicated that younger voters, a voting bloc that overwhelming supporters Sanders, were waiting in lines to vote even as polls were closing on Tuesday night.
Sanders voiced outrage at reports that voters were waiting for hours to vote in a press release on Tuesday, appearing to call the long lines voter a form of suppression.
“At a time when Democrats correctly attack Republicans for voter suppression, it is disappointing to see people standing in long lines for hours today waiting to vote in Michigan and around the country,” he said in the release.
He added, “People should not have to miss a day of work to exercise their right to vote. This is an outrage. Election officials must address these problems immediately, and if necessary, keep polling places open longer.”
Sanders lost Michigan, a state he won in 2016, to Biden by roughly 260,000 votes.