During a fiery first presidential debate between President Trump and Joe Biden, Trump connected Biden with the progressive, far left branch of his party. But Biden made it clear on the stage that he is running on a centrist campaign, saying, “The Green New Deal is not my plan.”
Biden continued, “No, I don’t support the Green New Deal. I support the Biden plan I put forward, which is different than what [Trump] calls the Green New Deal.”
Former counselor to the president, Kellyanne Conway, who recently left the White House, tweeted this quote to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and it got under her skin.”
The representative, who is known for what she likes to call “clapping back” at her twitter comments, responded, “This isn’t news, Kellyanne. Our differences are exactly why I joined the Biden’s Climate Unity Task Force- so we could set aside our differences & figure out an aggressive climate plan to address the planetary crisis at our feet. Trump doesn’t even believe climate change is real.”
The Green New Deal, which would cost up to $93 trillion taxpayer dollars, is AOC’s most valued piece of legislation. During the Democrat primary, she picked up some high-profile candidates’ endorsement of the legislation.
But Joe Biden knows he needs the AOC supporters to come out for him if he wants to defeat President Trump in November. Biden’s plan, titled, “Biden’s Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution & Environmental Justice,” is a ten-year plan that would cost $1.7 trillion.
Why this matters: AOC is clearly not concerned about the influence she will have if Biden is elected to the White House. While she has continued to say that the numbers in her plan “will work themselves out,” she took a less aggressive tone than her usual tweets against Kellyanne Conway’s tweet. It is clear that the Democrats understand now that if they want Biden elected, they have to toe the line.
