Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined one of the joint policy committees Joe Biden has created with the Bernie Sanders, according to Biden.
The presumptive Democratic nominee name-dropped AOC to show his campaign is trying to make inroads with the progressive wing of the party and develop new policies together.
“The good news is that Bernie has robustly endorsed me,” Biden said during an interview with a Las Vegas CBS affiliate Tuesday. “We’ve set up joint committees together to deal with how we would deal with everything from the virus — all the way day to education, the criminal justice system, the new green deal, etc.”
The former vice president said he was listening to Bernie supporters, like AOC, and “made some changes” — though he also felt the left wing has been growing more comfortable with his policies, which he felt “were not accurately characterized” before.
“We’ve listened to Bernie supporters, you know. We have, for example, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez — she is on one of the panels as well. And so I think we’re going to have a very united party,” Biden added.
AOC, an enthusiastic Sanders supporter, has said she’d back whoever ends up the Democratic nominee but she hadn’t even spoken to Biden as of last month, the New York Times reported.
Biden, who has been busy denying sexual assault allegations from former staffer Tara Reade, said he wasn’t discounting the progressive vote.
“I’m listening. I’m here. I need [Sanders supporters] and I hope they all will join us,” he added.