AOC says you can’t earn a billion dollars in recent podcast appearance

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezDN.Y., reignited her long-standing campaign in opposition to the ultra-wealthy Thursday, arguing that billionaires don’t legitimately “earn” their fortunes however as an alternative depend on a “myth” to justify their standing.

Appearing on comic Ilana Glazer’s podcast, “It’s Open,” the distinguished “Squad” member recommended that the very existence of a ten-figure web value is a political failure relatively than a private achievement.

“You can’t earn a billion dollars,” Ocasio-Cortez advised Glazer. “You can get market power. You can break rules. You can do all sorts of things. You can abuse labor laws. You can pay people less than what they’re worth. But you can’t earn that, right? And so you have to create a myth… you have to create a myth of earning it.”

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The New York Democrat’s remarks are a continuation of the rhetoric that propelled her to nationwide stardom in 2018. During the interview, she framed economic insecurity not as a results of particular person selections, however as a byproduct of a system that forces working-class Americans to internalize monetary hardship.

“It’s not that Walmart pays less than a living wage,” Ocasio-Cortez stated, mimicking the mindset she believes is compelled upon the general public. “It’s that I’m poor, and I didn’t work hard enough, so I didn’t earn a better station in my life.”

She additional tied the wealth hole to the nation’s present cultural divisions, suggesting that financial nervousness is being redirected towards marginalized teams.

“In an period of utmost earnings inequality, I do not suppose it is a coincidence that this xenophobia and anti-immigrant feeling is occurring on the identical time,” she stated.

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Ocasio-Cortez argued that excessive wealth is constructed by “market power” and labor exploitation relatively than benefit throughout a wide-ranging interview launched Thursday. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Throughout the interview, Ocasio-Cortez repeatedly anchored her socialist-leaning worldview in her upbringing as a working-class Puerto Rican in New York. She recalled her expertise as a bartender and waitress — a “bootstrap” narrative she makes use of to distinction with the “corporate myths” she criticizes.

“My mom cleaned houses growing up,” she stated. “My dad was born in the South Bronx.”

Reflecting on her father’s demise through the 2008 financial collapse, she famous that her household “did everything right” however was nonetheless almost ruined by the system. “We could have done everything that they said… and you can get sideswiped and there is nothing here to really support you.”

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The New York congresswoman stated Americans are taught to internalize financial hardship as private failure whereas defending techniques that profit the “ultra wealthy.” (Stephani Spindel/VIEWpress)

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The congresswoman’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for additional touch upon whether or not she believes any personal sector business permits for the “legitimate” accumulation of a billion dollars.

When reached for remark, AOC’s workplace pointed Fox News Digital to an X publish from the congresswoman.

“The single largest form of theft in America is wage theft. $50 billion a year are stolen from American workers,” she wrote. “Some people get angry that I draw attention to this. That’s on them. Let them call me shrill, dumb, inexperienced, girly, uneducated – these folks will say anything to distract from or undercut the truth that working people are getting screwed, and giving people a fair shake means we must have a grown conversation about reigning in abuse of power.”

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