MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Interview
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HAYES: History was made this November and now a record number of women will serve in the U.S. Congress come January. One of those women, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, perhaps you`ve heard of her. She`ll be representing New York`s 14th Congressional District. At 29 years old, she will become the youngest serving congresswoman ever. Joining me now is New York`s own, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic Congresswoman-Elect. Great to have you here.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT, NEW YORK: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
HAYES: One of the things that`s fascinating is you`ve been doing these like Instagram montage of basically behind the curtain. Like this is what it`s like when you come just elected. Like this is what your orientation about. I want to show people a little bit and then get your sort of thinking on what you`re trying to do. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OCASIO-CORTEZ: All right, here we go. Congressional life, getting off to a glamorous start. See you.
What happens when you actually check into orientation? You get a swag bag. Look at that. Isn`t that so cute? So I jokingly call it a swag bag but what we actually need as elected officials is very high-security data devices. So that`s what`s inside this bag, a new tablet and a new phone.
Guys, there are secret underground tunnels between all of these government buildings.
There`s no special sauce to it. You just got to be good at getting things done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAYES: So I found this fascinating myself. What is your sort of thinking about this sort of like bringing your constituents in?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes, you know, I think it`s so important that we humanize our government. I`ve kind of spoken about this before about making it real because a lot of times we`ll tune into cable news or we`ll watch what`s going on on T.V. and all we`re reading about is bills and all we`re reading about is legislation or the political dynamics. But I think it`s really important that when we actually show people that government is a real thing, that it is something that you can be a part of, it`s a process that we can transition into, I really kind of opens up the window to show that anyone can serve.
HAYES: Is that the sort of idea here?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think you can, I think --
HAYES: If you can work a dorm washing machine, what that look like.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes, exactly. I didn`t -- I didn`t go into it with some grand strategy, but I think that this is really the value that I`ve been hearing from a lot of people to be getting from this.
HAYES: So one of the -- one of the sort of big issues right now is this leadership fight. So there are 16 House Democrats who signed a letter saying the time has come for new leadership basically saying they won`t vote for Nancy Pelosi. If Ben McAdams wins in Utah, that`s their one vote short of blocking her. Where are you and how do you read this fight?
Well, for me, when I -- when I was reading this letter, that was kind of a release today. My main concern was that there is no vision, there is no common value, there is no goal that is really articulated in this letter aside from we need to change. And for me what that says is you know, I do think that we got sent to Congress on a mandate to change how government works, to change what government even looks like, but if we are not on the same page about changing the systems and the values and how we`re going to adapt as a party for the future, then what is the point of just changing our party leadership just for the sake of it.
HAYES: What I`m hearing from you is that you don`t feel like there`s an ideological or substantive sort of agenda-driven core of this objection.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: No. I mean, if anything, I think that what it does is that it creates a window where we could potentially get more conservative leadership. And when you actually look at the signatories it is not necessarily reflective of the diversity of the party. We -- you know, after -- we have about 16 signatories, 14 of them are male. There are very few people of color in the caucus, there are very few ideological diversity, it`s not like there are progressives that are signing on, it`s not like you have a broad-based coalition. So I find it you know, I don`t
* I`m not totally bought into the concept.
HAYES: You just as Democrats just attempt such a group that has sort of worked with your campaign early on. You and they had sort of announced your plans to continue the process of primering incumbent Democrats which is how of course you got to Congress. I wonder like how that -- how does that color the relationships you have with the incumbents there?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, I think what`s important to articulate what justice Democrats is about is really it`s not -- their mission -- their mission isn`t we`re going to primary Democrats. Their mission is we`re going to support working-class candidates to run in Midterm Elections. And so they have supported and endorsed candidates in red to blues, in open primaries, and -- but they do not shy away from actual primaries and blue races either. And so you know, I don`t -- I don`t -- I`m not sure if it really changes much because incumbent Democrat support and endorse against other incumbents all the time. You had Dan Lipinski earlier this year.
HAYES: That`s what incumbency is.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: That is --
HAYES: That`s being part of the club.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: And so -- but you have people that also support other primary challengers to incumbents as well. Again, you have Dan Lipinski this year where you have Kirsten Gillibrand, you have Pramila Jayapal, that came in and said we need change in this community. So I don`t think it`s anything two out of two -- I don`t think it`s a departure from precedent.
HAYES: Right.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: But I also think that we need to realize that at least for me and what I tell my community is that we don`t -- once we get elected to Congress, we don`t own these seats, we rent them from our communities, and we have to make our case every single time and that`s not -- I`m saying this you as an incumbent to be. And I realize that that means I hold myself to that standard as well, but I think it makes our democracy healthy.
HAYES: Follow up on that. You know, a lot of what a congressional office does obviously in a district is like Social Security disability payment wasn`t got -- held up in some logistical problem and I`m calling up my member of Congress to be like help me out. Like, that stuff that -- my understanding is you don`t have that much experience with that. `
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well --
HAYES: I mean, I know you work in Ted Kennedy`s office, but like are you -
* how are you thinking about setting that part of this operation up?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes, and actually the constituent services was what I did in the late Senator Kennedy`s office and that`s where I really learned how important it was for us to have really robust constituent services because that is the real interaction that an everyday person has what their elected official to say hey my Medicare isn`t working out. Hey, my visa application for my fiancee isn`t is getting blocked. What can you do? And so, really cutting through that red tape of government bureaucracy in order to serve our constituents is a huge service that we can have and it`s something that we`re really looking forward to building out in an innovative way.
HAYES: Your district I think includes or adjacent to the new proposed Amazon headquarters right, Long Island City.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes, it`s adjacent.
HAYES: It`s adjacent so obviously it`ll be ripple spillover effects. You`ve been quite outspoken against it. Do you think you can put together a political coalition to block it?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, you know, for me it`s not just about me governing top down. The reason that I spoke out on this issue, to begin with is because organizers and residents of my community were busting down our door saying you need to say something about this because we are threatened with homelessness, were threatened with rising rents, we have seen this happen in San Francisco, in Seattle, we`ve seen it with Foxconn, in the Midwest as well. And so I -- because I don`t -- because I don`t accept any corporate lobbyists contributions in my campaign, I feel like I have the liberty to advocate directly for what the community is telling me. And if this is what the community is telling me, it`s my responsibility to voice those concerns.
HAYES: All right, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat Congresswoman-Elect here in New York, come back any time. Thanks for coming.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Thank you so much.
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