Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and GOP’s 2016 presidential candidate GOP, John Kasich, traded sticks for Monday night’s former Ohio governor at the Democratic National Convention.
Kasich, who will speak out against President Trump, his one-time rival in the 2016 primary, said in an interview with Buzzfeed News that he thinks the US is “moderate” and that “extreme” politicians – like New York Democrat Ocasio -Cortez – receive “increased publicity.”
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“You know, I always listen to people who make these statements, and just because AOC gets outside publicity does not mean it represents the Democratic Party,” Kasich said. “She’s just a part, just some member of it. And it’s on both sides, whether it’s the Republicans or the Democrats.”
Ocasio-Cortez, who is Vermont. Bernie Sanders’ support during the Democratic primary, shot back in a tweet, accusing Kasich of “fighting for women’s rights.”
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“It’s great that Kasich is awake and has realized the importance of supporting a Biden-Harris ticket,” she wrote. “I hope he gets through to GOP voters. Yet he also tells me that one Republican who fights for women’s rights is not allowed to say who is representative of the Dem party.”
The first-term congresswoman will be given one minute to speak during the convention.
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Kasich, meanwhile, will be one of four Republicans to speak in support of presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday, the same night that Sanders will address the convention.
The three Republicans joining Kasich on Monday are former Gov. of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman, CEO of Quibi, Meg Whitman, a former adviser to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns; and former rep. Susan Molinari, speaking at the 1996 Republican National Convention.
The range of speakers is intended to underscore party unity and highlight the spectrum of political ideologues who support the former vice president – a fact that Biden’s Wall Street donors have spread among bankers worried about the role who could play Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders, both Democratic Socialists, in the election, sources told Fox Business.
But those donors deny the presence of Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders is meant to reflect the united front of the party, the sources said, and the progressives will have less influence if Biden is elected.
On Sunday, the Young Delegate Coalition, a group of 225 delegates representing Biden, Sanders, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., At the convention, urged a petition to start with the DNC to give Ocasio-Cortez more speaking time.
“She is one of two convention speakers under the age of 50,” the petition, which has received 6,475 signatures, said. “However, she is only given 60 seconds to speak, while Republican John Kasich is judged to have a much longer speaking segment. This is not acceptable.”
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A CBS News poll released over the weekend found that only 38% of Democrats said they wanted to hear from Kasich at the convention, while 63% said they wanted to hear from Ocasio-Cortez.
Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino contributed to this report.
