Chris Hayes Flat Out Asks AOC if She’s the Reason Chuck Schumer Is Playing Hardball With GOP: ‘Are You Planning to Primary Challenge Him?’
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) if she thinks Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is trying to avoid a primary challenge from her by taking a combative posture ahead of a looming government shutdown.
The federal government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday unless the Senate passes a continuing resolution by that time. Republicans control the Senate 53-47, but they need seven Democrats to vote for the measure to overcome a procedural hurdle. In exchange for the necessary votes, Schumer is demanding that Republicans include an extension of Covid-era healthcare premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a., Obamacare. So far, the Senate GOP has not budged.
Schumer rankled the Democratic base in March when he backed a GOP funding bill to keep the government open for six months, even though Republicans gave no concessions.
Ocasio-Cortez joined Tuesday’s edition of All In, where Hayes noted the ongoing speculation that she may primary Schumer in 2028. The host asked if she will primary Schumer:
HAYES: There are some people I have seen who have the following theory of why Senate Democrats have not cut a deal where they give eight votes and move along. And that is that Chuck Schumer is worried about a primary challenge from you and is worried about the politics to his left flank. And so, because of that, worry about a primary challenge, he’s gonna shut down the government. Ergo, it is AOC’s fault that the government is shutting down, or that you’re somehow the fulcrum of this. And I wanna just ask you straight up, like, are you planning to primary challenge him? Do you think that’s why he’s doing this?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: This is so not about me in this moment. This is about people being able to insure their children. And I will say, because I saw some senators speculating about this, and I saw some Republican members of Congress saying, “Oh, well, if we have this shutdown, it’s because of AOC.”
Well, if that’s the case, my office is open and you are free to walk in and negotiate with me directly, because what I’m not going to do is tolerate four million uninsured Americans because Donald Trump decided one day that he wants to just make sure that kids are dying because they don’t have access to insurance.
That’s what’s not gonna happen. And so if those senators think that we’re having a shutdown because of me, they’re free to enter my office and negotiate, because what we’re not going to do is allow all of millions of people in this country to not be able to afford their insulin and their chemotherapy. So, come strike a deal with me, if that’s what you really think is going on.
Watch above via MSNBC.
