Sunny Hostin Defends AOC as ‘Too Progressive’ While Alyssa Farah Griffin Disagrees on ‘The View’
photo: Credit: ABC
On the December 18 episode of The View, the co-hosts engaged in a heated debate about whether Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) can be considered “too progressive” following her loss in the race to become the top-ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee.
Ocasio-Cortez, 34, lost the vote 131-84 to Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), partly due to the influence of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), according to The New York Post. Sunny Hostin, a vocal Democrat, came to AOC’s defense, claiming that the Congresswoman has been unfairly vilified by the political right.
“She’s been demonized as this too progressive, far-left person, and I want to try to set the record straight because if she is too progressive, then the Democrats really are going to lose the working class, because this is her platform,” Hostin said.
Hostin went on to highlight some of AOC’s core policy positions, stating, “The key issues: healthcare for all people. Affordable housing, rebuild the unions, federal job guarantee, free public college.” She added, “If that is too progressive for this country, then that’s a problem for the Democrats, and that’s a problem, quite frankly, for this country.”
However, Alyssa Farah Griffin, a Republican co-host on the show, disagreed with Hostin’s perspective and argued that the Congresswoman’s proposals might be too far left for the majority of Americans. “A lot of this country does not support, for example, the Green New Deal, which would actually crush jobs across this country,” Griffin said.
“It would actually make international travel virtually impossible to do because of some of the regulations that would be in place.” Griffin continued, countering Hostin’s argument that the Green New Deal would create new jobs.
She stated, “Universal healthcare, you should have of course, anyone who needs emergency coverage, people should have catastrophic coverage, but most Americans want to have some choice and optionality in their healthcare.”
Referring to the public option under Obamacare, Griffin added, “There is a reason Obamacare did not have the public option. That’s not where the majority of the country is. I would argue that AOC is definitely too left for the majority of the country.”
The debate on The View highlighted the ongoing division within the Democratic Party and the larger national conversation about the future of progressive politics in America.
