AOC Nominated Sanders Because Of Procedure — And To Make A Point

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's short nominating speech for Bernie Sanders served a convention function — and pointed to a movement's future.

Ryan Brooks BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on August 18, 2020

Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders stand during his campaign event at the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire, Feb. 10, 2020

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seconded the largely symbolic nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders as the Democratic presidential nominee during the second night of the Democratic Party’s convention on Tuesday.

Ocasio-Cortez’s short speech was symbolic: Every candidate for president who brings delegates to the party convention is required to be formally nominated by someone, a role Ocasio-Cortez shared with former United Auto Workers union head Bob King. Her nomination came just a day after Sanders himself gave a speech to his supporters at the convention outlining Joe Biden’s healthcare plan and calling on his supporters to rally behind Biden’s campaign.

But Ocasio-Cortez, who is pointed to as one of the progressive movement’s next leaders, used her limited convention time to celebrate the movement Sanders has led. She gave a speech that focused on a vision for progressives that moved past Sanders’ campaign and spoke directly to the movement that progressives created around Sanders’ two presidential campaigns, while highlighting policies like universal healthcare and free higher education. She didn’t mention Sanders until nearly the end of her nomination.

“A movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny, and homophobia and to propose and build reimagined systems of immigration and foreign policy that turn away from the violence and xenophobia of our past,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“A movement that realizes the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many and who organized a historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy.”

Her speech then led into the roll call process that officially made Joe Biden the Democratic nominee for president. She has said she plans to vote for Biden in November and congratulated him in a tweet after her speech aired.


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez@AOC

If you were confused, no worries! Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold. I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call. I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden - let’s go win in November. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/uI92P3UfLn01:57 AM - 19 Aug 2020
Reply Retweet Favorite


MORE ON THE CONVENTION
Sally Yates’ Appearance At The Democratic National Convention Brings Trump’s First Big Legal Fight Full Circle

Zoe Tillman · Aug. 19, 2020

A Security Guard Who Met Joe Biden On An Elevator Was The First To Officially Nominate Him For President

Clarissa-Jan Lim · Aug. 19, 2020

The Democratic Convention May Seem Awkward, But The Party Thinks It’s A Test Run For A Virtual Campaign

Henry J. Gomez · Aug. 18, 2020


Ryan Brooks is a politics reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.