Feud Erupts Between Democratic Socialist Ocasio-Cortez and the Incumbent She Defeated

Feud Erupts Between Democratic Socialist Ocasio-Cortez and the Incumbent She Defeated
Progressive challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez celebrartes at a victory party in the Bronx after upsetting incumbent Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowly in New York City on June 26, 2018. (Scott Heins/Getty Images)
Zachary Stieber
7/13/2018
Updated:
7/13/2018
A feud erupted between Democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old who is running for Congress out of New York City, and the outgoing official she defeated.

Ocasio-Cortez, a former bartender who worked on Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, defeated Rep. Joseph Crowley in the Democratic primary in June in New York’s 14th Congressional District.

But she now believes that Crowley is going against his word and plans to run as a third-party challenger.

“Crowley stated on live TV that he would absolutely support my candidacy. Instead, he’s stood me up for all 3 scheduled concession calls,“ Ocasio-Cortez said via Twitter this week. ”Now, he’s mounting a 3rd party challenge against me and the Democratic Party—and against the will of [NY Working Families].”

The clip she shared showed Crowley during a pre-primary debate saying he'd support his challenger if she won.

And Crowley responded via Twitter that he does plan to support Ocasio-Cortez and not run.

“Alexandria, the race is over and Democrats need to come together,” he said. “I’ve made my support for you clear and the fact that I’m not running. We’ve scheduled phone calls and your team has not followed through. I’d like to connect but I’m not willing to air grievances on Twitter.”

Crowley said he had the support of the Working Families Party and would be able to run as an independent on the party’s line but will not do so.

Crowley clarified in a later tweet that he cannot be removed from the ballot but he will not be running.

“For the record you can only be removed from the ballot if 1) you move out of NY; 2) die; 3) be convicted of a crime; 4) accept a nomination for another office (in a place I don’t live),” he wrote.

The ballot in November will include the pair of Democrats as well as Republican Anthony Pappas.

Ocasio-Cortez has embraced a number of far-left propositions, including calling for the abolishment of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which fights crimes such as illegal immigration, child pornography, and human trafficking.

In addition, leaders of the Democratic Socialists of America, which has endorsed her, has recently said that it supports communism.
City & State reported that it’s common for the Working Families Party (WFP) to install “placeholder candidates for endorsements where there is no consensus” but that those nominees typically vacate the WFP line after the primary.

The publication also noted that Ocasio-Cortez has made several unsubstantiated claims about Crowley, including accusing his campaign team of tampering with her campaign posters.

From NTD.tv
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