AOC: Progressive policies like 'Medicare-for-all' are still in play
A number of blue seats switched to red in several states
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., dismissed the idea that Americans' rejection of progressive policies cost Democrats a number of House seats in a series of tweets, saying all the swing-state Democratic incumbents who voted for the Green New Deal and Medicare-for-all won reelection.
A number of blue seats switched to red on and after Election Day in Florida, South Carolina, Minnesota and other states as election officials continue to count votes. Democrats have won 214 seats as of Friday morning compared with Republicans' 202. Another 19 seats remain undecided.
"There are swing-seat Dem incumbents who cosponsored the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, etc., and if I’m not mistaken, every single one won re-election," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "So the whole 'progressivism is bad' argument just doesn’t have any compelling evidence that I’ve seen. When it comes to 'Defund' & 'Socialism' attacks, people need to realize these are racial resentment attacks."
Her comments come after Democratic members of Congress hosted a Thursday phone call in which they blamed the push for progressive policies such as the Green New Deal and reducing funding for police for the party's 2020 congressional election losses.
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Ocasio-Cortez, a 31-year-old freshman congresswoman and self-described democratic socialist who was reelected Tuesday to serve New York's 14th District, tweeted that she "decided to open the hood on struggling campaigns of candidates who are blaming progressives for their problems" and "almost all had awful execution on digital."
Ocasio-Cortez, who has helped transform the way politicians use social media, said blaming ideology is a "spicy" conversation that "a lot of people jump to," but she believes the real problem for failed Democratic campaigns lies in a lack of digital outreach spending.
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A combination of faulty polls and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's 2019 decision to blacklist two marketing firms for working with candidates they deemed too far-left also contributed to the disappointing performance, she said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., left, joined by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., listens during a House Oversight and Reform Committee meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Ocasio-Cortez is one of four first-term progressive congresswomen dubbed "The Squad." The group also includes Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, all of whom won reelection.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said during Thursday's Democratic Caucus call that, if Democrats "are going to run on Medicare-for-all, defund the police, socialized medicine," they are "not going to win."
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In a statement to Fox News, Clyburn said: "My comments on today’s private Caucus call are the same sentiments I have expressed for years and publicly reiterated earlier this year. Sloganeering, 'Burn baby burn,' highjacked the movement John Lewis and I helped lead in the 1960s, and slogans like 'Defund the police' could do the same to today's efforts, socially and politically."
Lewis, a Democratic lawmaker and civil rights icon who served in the House for decades, died earlier this year.
President Trump centered his campaign in part on accusing Democrats of becoming more accepting of socialist ideologies, saying repeatedly that the choice between himself and 2020 Democratic nominee Joe Biden was a choice between the "American dream" and a "socialist" country.
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Fox News' Sam Dorman, Mike Emanuel, Chad Pergram and Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.