The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg should “radicalize” Democrats ahead of the November election, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez said Friday night.
Ginsburg’s death should give Democrats who are critical of former Vice President Joe Biden’s policies the energy necessary to vote, the New York Democrat said in an Instagram post.
“Let this moment radicalize you,” the freshman representative said in a Friday night Instagram Live video. “Let this moment really put everything into stark focus because this election has always been about the fight of and for our lives. And if anything, tonight is making that more clear to more people than ever before.”
Ocasio-Cortez made her comments shortly after the Supreme Court announced Ginsburg’s death from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer. (RELATED: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Been Undergoing Cancer Treatment Since May)
“Voting for Joe Biden is not about whether you agree with him. It’s a vote to let our democracy live another day,” said Ocasio-Cortez, who supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. “We need to act in solidarity and protection for the most vulnerable people in our society who have already experienced the violent repercussions of this administration.”
President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court would receive a vote in the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a statement following Ginsburg’s death.
Before her death, the 87-year-old justice reportedly told her granddaughter that her “most fervent wish” is that she wouldn’t “be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Ocasio-Cortez said that Ginsburg’s death and the Supreme Court vacancy represents what she called a “tipping point” for voters who are worried about the future of women’s rights. “This kind of vacancy and this kind of tipping point is the difference between people having reproductive rights and the government controlling people’s bodies for them,” she said.
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