Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D) revealed some of her frustration with progressives who are criticizing mainstream Democrats for doing enough to oppose President Trump during a fiery town hall meeting, where she said that liberal colleagues such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have made a lot of noise about Trump but haven’t accomplished much.
Slotkin said that the diverse politics of her state “require me to be more than just an AOC,” referring to Ocasio-Cortez, who has harshly criticized Senate Democrats who voted last week for a House-GOP drafted funding bill that cut non-defense programs by $13 billion.
“I can’t do what she does because we live in a purple state and I’m a pragmatist. Everyone you mentioned has a lot of words, but what have they actually done to change the situation with Donald Trump?” she asked at the meeting, clips of which were played by CNN.
Slotkin voted against the House GOP funding bill, which Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and nine other members of the Senate Democratic caucus voted to advance in order to avoid a government shutdown.
That vote enraged liberals, and Ocasio-Cortez slammed support for the bill as a “huge slap in the face.”
Democrats across the country, including Slotkin, have faced angry constituents at town halls this week who pressed the lawmakers to do more to counter Trump and Musk.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, have traveled through Western states this week to rally progressives against Trump’s agenda, dubbing it the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.
During an appearance in Las Vegas, Ocasio-Cortez warned of “an extreme concentration of power and corruption that is taking over this country like never before.”
Sanders has urged for progressives to run for office as independent candidates and challenge the Democratic Party from the left.
“If there’s any hope for the Democratic Party, it is that they’re going to have to reach out — open the doors and let working-class people in, let working-class leadership come into the party,” he told The New York Times. “If not, people will be running as independents, I think, all over the country.”
