“The choice isn’t what I’m breathing in, it’s what I’m exhaling,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declared this Monday at an event organized by Blackout for Human Rights celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in New York City. “Right now, I think with this administration, with the current circumstances, with the abdication of responsibility that we’ve seen from so many powerful people … I feel a need for all of us to breathe fire.”
In conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates at Riverside Church, Ocasio-Cortez was responding to his comments about the level of “toxicity and stupidity” the new congresswoman encounters on a near daily basis. In delivering this exhortation, Ocasio-Cortez not only galvanized audience members but also stirred their respect with her ability to let the intense scrutiny roll off her back.
It’s this ability to speak truth to power in a strong and forthright way that’s gained Ocasio-Cortez wide praise and admiration, and perhaps her assignment to the powerful House Oversight Committee. Meanwhile the media have lavished attention on her flair for blistering comebacks — such as her rapid rebuttal to bizarre comments from Aaron Sorkin, creator of “The West Wing,” who implored young freshman Democratic Congress members to “stop acting like young people,” and to focus instead on the “economic anxiety of the middle class.”
Though Sorkin later walked back his comments, his remarks betrayed the anxiety frequently exhibited by established public figures toward Ocasio-Cortez, and further underscored the disappointing failure by this class to acknowledge the deeper vision of justice that Ocasio-Cortez is already articulating.
A few days before the interview with Sorkin, Ocasio-Cortez made her first speech on the floor of the House. A video of her speech quickly became the most-viewed Twitter video of any remarks by a member of the House. Here she could step away from political sound bites to present the harm of the shutdown on workers as part of broader economic struggles and the “erosion of American democracy and the subversion of our most basic governmental norms.” She reminded her fellow representatives that “every member of this body has a responsibility to this nation and to everyone in the United States of America whether they voted for us or not, and this president shares in that responsibility as well.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s principled stance stands in stark contrast to the political language of bipartisanship in Washington that boils down to compromise rather than to agreement on common values.
She explained much of her position as listening to voices on social media as a “more honest pulse of what people are talking about.” But more than amplifying these views through her platform, Ocasio-Cortez has exposed our deeper poverty of political imagination, as she moves beyond legitimizing acceptable discourse to redefining what’s possible.
Drawing from King’s tradition of intersectional justice, she’s already done much to revamp and repair the relationship between Congress and an utterly demoralized civil society, especially by embracing the importance of social movements as a vital “moral compass” for those in public office.
Yet most mainstream media outlets, which should provide the public a channel for ideas, have ignored this impact, much as King’s systemic critiques were also ignored in favor of a more benign image. Ocasio-Cortez has restored truth to politics not just through facts but also through her stated intent to use her office to “translate public will into the law of the land.”
The traditional measure of her impact as a legislator will be to translate this into nuts and bolt policy. Yet, her political imagination remains her strongest tool in carving out a path for the Democratic Party to maintain the moral high ground while building a post-Trump agenda that addresses urgent issues for the future.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $104,000 in one-time donations and to add 1340 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy