Surprise Dem Nominee: 'I'm Not Trying to Impose an Ideology'

The Supreme Court, North Korea, and tax reform also sizzle on Sunday talk shows
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 1, 2018 1:10 PM CDT
Ocasio-Cortez: Socialist 'Is Part of What I Am'
In this June 27, 2018 photo, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is photographed while being interviewed in Rockefeller Center in New York.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

So just who is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? The Democratic congressional nominee—who stunned incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary for New York’s 14th Congressional District—appeared Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press in part, it seems, to answer that question, per Politico. "It’s part of what I am, it’s not all of what I am,” she says of the label "Democratic Socialist," adding: "And I think that’s a very important distinction. I'm not trying to impose an ideology on all several hundred members of Congress. But I do think that, once again, it's not about selling an '-ism' or an ideology or a label or a color. This is about selling our values." On CNN's State of the Union, Sen. Tammy Duckworth was asked if Ocasio-Cortez is the Democratic Party's future. "I think it's the future of the party in the Bronx, where she is," Duckworth says. Around the Sunday dial:

  • High Court & Abortion: "Roe v. Wade is a constitutional right that is well-established," Sen. Susan Collins says on CNN's State of the Union about President Trump's upcoming Supreme Court nominee, reports Politico. "So a nominee position ... will tell me a lot about whether or not they would overturn Roe v. Wade. A candidate of this import position who would overturn Roe v. Wade would not be acceptable to me, because that would indicate an activist agenda that I don’t want to see a judge have."

  • High Court & Russia: "The idea that you can't judge somebody who picked you is probably not a ground for recusal," says Sen. Lindsay Graham on Meet the Press, about Trump's Supreme Court pick possibly recusing him or herself on anything related to the Russia probe, per Politico. "You've got to show there's a connection between the case at hand and the activity of the judge."
  • High Court & Pardoning: "I’m so anxious to hear whatever this nominee has to say," says Sen. Maria Cantwell on Meet the Press about President Trump's upcoming Supreme Court pick, per the Hill. "Is the president able to pardon himself? ... I want to know what he thinks of the Mueller, the process of how far the Mueller investigation needs to go. Will they fight to protect that?"
  • North Korea: "We are running out of options quickly," says former CIA officer Lon Augustenborg on AM 970 in New York, per the Hill. "And the president, while I certainly understand his speech at the UN, the personal attacks, especially when you're going after someone like the Korean leadership, and with their culture … to save face, it just ups the ante and increases the hostility, and we already have limited options."

  • North Korea pt. 2: "We’re going to try and proceed to implement what the two leaders agreed to in Singapore," says White House national security advisor John Bolton on CBS' Face the Nation, about reports that North Korea has increased manufacturing of nuclear-weapons fuel, per Politico. "We're very well aware of North Korea's patterns of behavior over decades of negotiating with the United States. There's not any starry-eyed feeling among the group doing this."
  • American Business: "Donald Trump is, in fact, ending the war on business," conservative economic analyst Larry Kudlow says on AM 970, reports the Hill. "Trump is ending the punishment of investment. That's what [the upcoming tax reform bill] is really about: The return on capital will go up after tax. The cost of capital will go down after tax. And that will lead directly into new business projects, and more hires, and better wages and productivity. It doesn't get any better than this."

In his Sunday interview, President Trump slammed Harley-Davidson for playing "cute." (More Sunday morning talk shows stories.)

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