["With Alexandria, with Ilhan, and others on board, were going to
put together a coalition that is going to win and win big," Sanders
said ahead of the event. ] [[link removed]]
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ BACKS BERNIE SANDERS AT NYC RALLY
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Andrea Germanos
October 19, 2019
Common Dreams
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_ "With Alexandria, with Ilhan, and others on board, we're going to
put together a coalition that is going to win and win big," Sanders
said ahead of the event. _
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) holds
hands with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) during his speech at
a campaign rally in Queensbridge Park on October 19, 2019 in the
Queens borough of New York City. , Kena Betancur/Getty Images
"I am back," Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said
Saturday, as he held a packed rally in New York City that featured
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who endorsed the Vermont senator's
White House bid.
Watch video of the event below: Starts around 18:20
The "Bernie's Back" event, which kicked off shortly after 1 pm in
Queensbridge Park in Queens, marked the campaign's first rally since
Sanders was hospitalized
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for a heart attack earlier this month. Sanders told the crowd he was
"more ready than ever to carry on with you the epic struggle that we
face today" and "more than ready to assume the office of president of
the United States."
On Saturday afternoon, the hashtag #BerniesBack was trending in the
U.S.
Thank you @AOC [[link removed]]
pic.twitter.com/Wtn5N2HSNJ [[link removed]]
— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) October 19, 2019
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Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement was reported
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earlier this week by the _Washington Post_.
Tomorrow: I'm so excited to be joined by @MMFlint
[[link removed]] and @AOC
[[link removed]] in New York for a rally
to show the billionaire class we're ready to take them on. RSVP here:
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pic.twitter.com/Ux03Z6qbkE [[link removed]]
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 18, 2019
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THIS CROWD!!!
Thousands upon thousands are here in Queensbridge Park - with a line
still in the streets - for the #BerniesBack
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rally with @AOC [[link removed]]
pic.twitter.com/EvhP8MKCMZ [[link removed]]
— Bill Neidhardt (@BNeidhardt) October 19, 2019
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The capacity for the rally was 20,000, but so many people came the
campaign had to turn people away, said Sanders. According to the
campaign, nearly 26,000 people were in attendance.
"Our priority is not only defeating Donald Trump," Ocasio-Cortez told
the crowd. "It's defeating the system of which he is a symptom."
“It wasn’t until I heard of a man named Bernie Sanders that I
began to question and assert and recognize my inherent value as a
human being that deserves health care, housing, education and a living
wage.” -@AOC [[link removed]]
#BerniesBack
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— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 19, 2019
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The two lawmakers sung each other's praises. AOC praised Sanders for
his "non-stop advocacy" including fighting for a single-payer
healthcare system while she was a child relying on CHIP.
Sanders, meanwhile, called Ocasio-Cortez a "fierce defender of the
working class of our country" who's "taken on the greed of Wall
Street" and "electrified this country" with her Green New Deal
legislation.
At the rally, Sanders said
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tweet Friday night, "we will say, without apology: Safe and decent
housing is an essential right. A Green New Deal is the only sufficient
response to our climate crisis. And the obscene greed of corporate
America must end."
On social media, the campaign shared remarks from other speakers at
the rally, including campaign co-chair and San Juan, Puerto Rico Mayor
Caren Yulín Cruz, filmmaker Michael Moore, and campaign co-chair Nina
Turner.
"We want a justice system that doesn’t gun down Black folks in their
houses. We are going to clean up this criminal injustice system.”
-@ninaturner [[link removed]]
#BerniesBack
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— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 19, 2019
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"We must win because of a fundamental value that power is in the
streets and government is to serve the people, not just the 1%. We
must win because there is too much at stake.” -@CarmenYulinCruz
[[link removed]] #BerniesBack
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— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 19, 2019
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Speaking to _NBC News_ Saturday before the rally began, Ocasio-Cortez,
who was an organizer for Sanders' 2016 campaign, said
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her endorsement was due to "a moment of clarity" about the role she
wanted to play. She said she decided, "I want to be part of a mass
movement."
"It was less about... being overly politically calculating," she said,
"and it was more about the authenticity and clarity of that moment."
Sanders has also received
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the endorsement of two other members of the Squad—Reps. Ilhan Omar
(D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)
Explaining her support, Omar said
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in a video released this week: "The senator is the only candidate that
is proposing a complete cancellation of student debt. The senator is
the only candidate that is proposing to provide universal school
meals. The senator is the only candidate that wants to make sure that
we end our endless wars and will fight for human rights and hold
everyone accountable regardless of whether they are an ally or a foe."
In a phone call with supporters on Friday, Sanders said the rally
would be a "powerful event" and touched on key issues of his campaign
including income and wealth inequality, Medicare for All, and the
climate crisis.
The campaign, added Sanders, has "a great path to victory."
That path relies on generating "the largest voter turnout by far in
the history of our country" to counter President Donald Trump, whom
Sanders called "the most dangerous president in the history of this
country," as well as a "formidable opponent" who will have "unlimited
amounts of money from his billionaire friends and from others."
That makes the endorsements from Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and other
progressives so key, said Sanders, as "they are able to generate and
are generating enormous support among young people, among people of
color, among working class people all over this country."
"With Alexandria, with Ilhan, and others on board," Sanders continued,
"we're going to put together a coalition that is going to win and win
big" and be able to create "an economy and a government that works for
everybody and not just the one percent and wealthy campaign
contributors."
Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike
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