Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is set to endorse Bernie Sanders who is Democratic party’s nominee for the White House next year.
According to the Washington Post, Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), another member of the “Squad” of four liberal congresswomen, also announced late Tuesday that she was backing Sanders. The surprise endorsements are a political coup for Sanders, 78, who has been fading in the polls and faced growing questions about his age and health. Before Tuesday’s Democratic debate, he had been sidelined from the campaign trail for two weeks by a heart attack.
During the fourth Democratic debate on Tuesday night Sanders, who recently suffered a heart attack that raised questions about his health, teased the appearance of a surprise guest at a Bernie’s Back rally scheduled for Saturday in New York.
In a statement, Omar said she had worked closely with Sanders on several policy initiatives, including a measure to cancel student debt and another to provide year-round school meals. “Bernie is leading a working class movement to defeat Donald Trump that transcends generation, ethnicity, and geography,” Omar said.
Ocasio-Cortez is one of the four members of “the Squad”, a group of four freshman congresswomen of color whose liberal policies and pointed critiques of Donald Trump have earned them praise from many on the left and virulent attacks from many conservatives.
