Primary Recap: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Advice for Brokenhearted Bernie Voters on Instagram

Kristin Callahan/Ace Pictures/Zuma

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to her favorite medium last night to heal wounds and give mourning Bernie supporters some guidance amid the Vermont senator’s primary losses to former Vice President Joe Biden in Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, and Idaho—striking a tone of resilience and hope.

In the roughly 45-minute video, the representative from New York and avid Sanders supporter answered questions from her Instagram followers, even adding a bit of punditry about generational divides in the Democratic party.

“There’s a generational divide in the Democratic Party on health care, on climate change, on foreign policy, on pretty much every policy imaginable, and as a younger person in this movement, I take a lot of that as information for how we navigate the next decade,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

The video, which was broadcast live to her 4.2 million Instagram followers, sparked commentary about AOC’s healing powers as a young progressive in the Democratic Party. Her message was clear: While she may be disappointed, she’s certainly not bitter.

“The number one enemy that anybody has… in politics is cynicism,” she said. “We have a lot of victories that we can claim, and I believe that we have won over the generational argument, enormous constituencies, decisive arguments. And now is the time to ask for accountability.”

Watch the video below:

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate