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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez refuses to run for president: 'How about... no'

The New York Democrat, 29, said the political media is is 'too fixated on personalities instead of policies'

Sarah Harvard
New York
Friday 14 December 2018 08:31 GMT
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Alexandria Ocasio Cortez now subtitles her instagram stories to make them accessible for everyone

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who recently became the youngest American elected into Congress, is a rising star among the left and has even been suggested as a viable Democratic candidate for the 2020 presidential race.

But the New York Democrat thinks otherwise and certainly did not mince her words: “How about...no.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Wednesday in response to a Vox article, written by co-founder Matthew Yglesias, that argued the incoming congresswoman should be able to run for the 2020 election despite her young age.

The US Constitution clearly states that presidential candidates must be at least 35-years-old to be eligible for office. Ms Ocasio-Cortez is 29.

Mr Yglesias doesn’t find the Bronx native to be “that young” for the Oval Office.

He argued that the New York Democrat “isn’t that young.”

“People younger than that are routinely trusted with life-and-death situations in a huge array of contexts, ranging from parenting to military service,” Mr Yglesias wrote.

He also argued the nonsense behind the Constitution’s presidential age limit can be seen in President Donald Trump’s handling of the White House.

“While the law prevents anyone under the age of 35 from becoming president, we currently have a septuagenarian in the White House whose frequent nonsensical diatribes and notoriously scattered Twitter outbursts repeatedly raise the prospect of mental decline,” Yglesias wrote. “Meanwhile, the top two Democrats in national polling — Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden — are 77 and 76, respectively.”

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Ms Ocasio-Cortez believes it’s too soon to talk 2020, and taxing for constituents who already experienced an “exhausting” midterm election cycle. She said the political media is is “too fixated on personalities instead of policies.”

“The whole country JUST went through an exhausting midterm election. We need a break,” she wrote. “Can we instead talk about healthcare, a living wage, legalizing cannabis, GND, & other issues?”

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