Joe Lieberman, 76, Tells AOC, 29: You Aren’t The Future Of Democratic Party

Former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman Image by Getty Images

By Alyssa Fisher January 11, 2019

Joe Lieberman, former Democratic Senator from Connecticut, made it clear he is not a fan of New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“With all respect, I certainly hope she’s not the future and I don’t believe she is,” Lieberman said Thursday on Fox Business Network.

Lieberman, 76, explained that Ocasio-Cortez, 29, is too “different” and “controversial” for the party, which he says has shifted to the center of the political spectrum.

“If you look at the majority of new Democrats in the house, they tend to be, I say, center-left, if they are not left-left,” he said. “And that is because they had to be center-left to win some of those competitive swing districts that they took from Republicans. So that’s the hope.”

Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described Democratic socialist, didn’t flinch at the comment. Instead she shot back, tweeting, “New party, who dis?”

New party, who dis? https://t.co/2cznisv8tB

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 11, 2019

In November, after she unseated incumbent Democrat Joe Crowley in a upset victory, the freshman congresswoman tweeted that Lieberman was one of the two former vice presidential candidates to attack her.

For those asking who’s the other one: Lieberman (?)

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 20, 2018

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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