Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quickly emerged as a darling of progressive activists, but inside the halls of Congress she became a “pariah” among fellow Democrats, a new book claims.
Even before Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — widely known by her initials AOC — ascended to the House of Representatives in 2019, she rankled party leadership and progressive luminaries in the lower chamber, according to “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution,” out on Tuesday.
“While somebody like Obama wants to be seen as being all things to all people, Ocasio Cortez actually thinks she can be all things to all people while leading a political revolution,” author Ryan Grim wrote, per a preview of the tome published by the Daily Mail on Sunday.
Grim recounts how the firebrand progressive — who unseated 10-term incumbent and Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley — upset top members of the party early on in her career.
In July 2018, the month after AOC beat Crowley in the Democratic primary, she met with then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — who urged the 28-year-old lefty to drop the slogan “Abolish ICE.”
Pelosi believed the phrase, targeting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had