Since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was elected to Congress, she’s brought a refreshing and powerfully passionate energy to Washington, DC.
When she isn’t mastering the art of the Twitter takedown, sharing her social media skills with fellow Democrats, or answering interview questions as candidly as possible, the 29-year-old is making insightful speeches that effectively communicate her personal beliefs and challenge the American people to rethink our power structures and national priorities.
Whether she’s at a protest or on the House floor, Ocasio-Cortez never shies away from expressing her opinions, no matter how bold. She delivers her messages calmly and succinctly, and though she’s only been on the job for a few months, she’s already made several memorable — and quotable — speeches.
From thanking her supporters on the night she was elected to her stirring defense of the Green New Deal, here are seven Ocasio-Cortez speeches so good you’ll want to binge watch them whenever you need to be inspired.
1. Her victory speech
The 29-year-old representing New York’s 14th Congressional District became the youngest woman to ever be elected to Congress, and after she was elected in November 2018, she gave an impassioned victory speech.
Ocasio-Cortez recalled the many obstacles she overcame throughout her life to get to that podium and thanked her supporters, encouraging them and promising she would fight to change the world for the better.
2. The first speech she made on the House floor
During President Trump’s government shutdown, which lasted 35 days — the longest in America’s history — Ocasio-Cortez made her first speech on the House floor.
“The truth of this shutdown is that it’s actually not about a wall, it is not about the border, and it is certainly not about the well-being of everyday Americans. The truth is, this shutdown is about the erosion of American democracy and the subversion of our most basic governmental norms,” she said during her time at the mic.
Ocasio-Cortez’s speech reportedly broke a C-SPAN streaming record on Twitter by racking up 1.16 million views in a little over 12 hours — the most views a video of any member of the House has ever received. Quite the debut, AOC.
3. Her comments at the 2019 Women’s March
Ocasio-Cortez attended the 2019 Women’s March in New York City wearing her iconic red lipstick and gold hoop earrings, where she made a powerful speech about justice, equality, and the environment.
“Justice is about making sure that being polite is not the same thing as being quiet. In fact, often times, the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table,” she poetically preached to an enthusiastic audience.
4. When she took on Big Pharma
AOC has made several speeches before House committees, but she drew a lot of attention in February when she asked in-depth questions about Big Pharma and public investment return on the development of drugs.
5. The time she exposed America’s broken campaign finance system
Another noteworthy speech took place when Ocasio-Cortez played a five-minute, lightning round “Corruption Game” with members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, who held a hearing about H.R. 1., known as For the People Act of 2019.
“I’ll be the bad guy,” Ocasio-Cortez said, before proceeding to ask a series of questions that successfully exposed how incredibly problematic and “fundamentally broken” America’s campaign finance system is.
At one point, she asked if she and all other Americans are being held to a higher ethical standard than the president, to which Walter Shaub, Campaign Legal Center’s senior director of ethics, replied, “That’s right…”
6. Her hopeful inaugural address
Ocasio-Cortez returned home to the Bronx to deliver a nearly 20-minute inaugural address in February. In the hopeful speech she outlined her political agenda, highlighting topics like immigration, Amazon, her Green New Deal, and more.
7. Her defense of the Green New Deal
AOC recently defended the Green New Deal to the Senate after the plan was rejected by a vote of of 57-0. In response to concern that the deal is “elitist,” Ocasio-Cortez outlined why a general concern over climate and environment impacts each and every person on this planet.
“This is not an elitist issue, this is a quality of life issue,” the Congresswoman said. “You want to tell people that their concern and their desire for clean air and clean water is elitist? Tell that to the kids in the south Bronx, which are suffering from the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country.”
“Tell that to the families in Flint whose kids have their blood ascending in lead levels, their brains are damaged for the rest of their lives. Call them elitist.”
How one even attempts to recover after being hit with a such a high caliber response is beyond me. Following the speech, as the video above made the rounds online, AOC received a whole lot of Twitter praise.
Ocasio-Cortez has been captivating rooms long before she joined Congress — as you can see by this 2011 speech she made at Boston University — and she’s an expert at reaching wide audiences on Twitter and Instagram Live. We have no doubt she’ll deliver plenty more meaningful, moving messages during her time in Congress and beyond. We eagerly await future speeches, and will continue to update this article with the best of the best.
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