The Democratic Party needs “new leadership,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a new interview, but noted that she herself “couldn’t do that job” yet.
Speaking on a podcast published by The Intercept on Wednesday, the Democratic congresswoman discussed her opposition to what she described as a “massive [corporate] bailout that we gave away in March,” calling it “everything that the Republican Party wanted.”
Asked by the podcast host if the bailout constituted “grounds… to take a stand and say, ‘No, I’m sorry. Nancy Pelosi should not be the speaker and Chuck Schumer should not be the leader,'” Ocasio-Cortez said it was “something that we really need to think about.”
“Well, you know, I do think that we need new leadership in the Democratic Party,” she said. “I think one of the things that I have struggled with… is, the internal dynamics of the House has made it such that there’s very little option for succession, if you will, you know?”
“And I think it’s easy for someone to say, ‘Oh, well, you know, why don’t you run?’ But the House is extraordinarily complex. And I’m not ready. It can’t be me!” she added with a laugh. “I know I couldn’t do that job.”