New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, often referred to as AOC, energized the crowd Monday night (August 19) when she took the stage at the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago to support Kamala Harris.
Once at the lectern, attendees began chanting, “AOC!” in unison. Ocasio-Cortez began her powerful speech by talking about her own experience working as a waitress in New York City only six years ago.
“I didn’t have health insurance,” Ocasio-Cortez said about her life before she was elected to Congress. “My family was fighting off foreclosure, and we were struggling with bills after my dad passed away unexpectedly from cancer. Like millions of Americans, we were just looking for an honest shake.”
She compared her own message of “hope and aspiration” to that of Harris, and said that America has “a rare and precious opportunity” to do something special on Election Day.
“[Kamala] understands the urgency of rent checks and groceries and prescriptions,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “She is as committed to our reproductive and civil rights as she is to taking on corporate greed, and she is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bringing hostages home.”
Ocasio-Cortez then attacked Donald Trump and said he “would sell this country for $1 if it meant lying his own pockets and greasing the palms of his Wall Street friends.”
After Ocasio-Cortez’s speech wrapped, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper said she “electrified the room.” On social media, she was described as “a political star.”
Her speech was even compared to Barack Obama’s speech at the 2004 DNC, which some say put him on a path to his own presidency four years later.
Could we see Ocasio-Cortez in The White House one day? If so, she would have plenty of Americans voting for her.
Watch AOC’s full speech at the DNC below.