Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Sunday suggested that the Chinese coronavirus pandemic is hitting the United States “so hard” because the U.S. has “one of the worst healthcare systems in the developed world.” She attributed the increased hardships to “inequities of race and immigration status.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) featured Ocasio-Cortez, as well as her fellow “Squad” members Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), in a virtual roundtable discussion on the coronavirus pandemic Sunday evening.
The New York lawmaker listed several reasons she believes the pandemic is hitting the U.S. “so hard” and suggested that “inequities of race and immigration status” are worsening the crisis:
The reason we are here and the reason this crisis is hitting us so hard is because we have one of the worst healthcare systems in the developed world. We pay less than a living wage to a shamefully large amount of workers in the United States. Paid sick leave is not guaranteed.
“And we have to make sure that people have basic rights and — as well as labor rights,” she continued. “So all of these things are contributing factors as to why this is hitting us so hard.”
“But then you take that economic piece and you layer on inequities of race and immigration status, and you see how things can get even worse,” the freshman lawmaker added.
Ocasio-Cortez’s participation in Sanders’ virtual town hall followed a Sunday appearance on CNN where she called for the suspension of mortgage, rent, and debt payments and the expansion of unemployment benefits.
“Two major economic actions we should take to stabilize working families,” she said in a tweet alongside a clip of her appearance on State of the Union:
1. Get checks into everyone’s hands NOW. We can tax it back next year from the privileged who don’t need it.
2. Stop the money OUT. Suspend all major bill payments including mortgages, rent, loans, etc.
Two major economic actions we should take to stabilize working families:
1. Get checks into everyone’s hands NOW. We can tax it back next year from the privileged who don’t need it.
2. Stop the money OUT. Suspend all major bill payments including mortgages, rent, loans, etc. https://t.co/lmSfcS72N9
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 22, 2020
The U.S. had over 33,200 confirmed cases of the Chinese coronavirus as of Sunday evening.
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