Sanders touts Ocasio-Cortez endorsement in new Iowa ad

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-N.Y.) support for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will feature prominently in a new ad released by his campaign this week in Iowa.

A 30-second digital spot released by the Sanders campaign on Tuesday focuses on the freshman congresswoman, as she says her own political service was inspired by Sanders and his support for progressive causes such as “Medicare For All” in the 2016 election.

{mosads}”The first time I ever heard about Bernie Sanders was when I was a waitress. I didn’t have health insurance. I was being paid less than a living wage and I didn’t think that I deserved any of those things,” Ocasio-Cortez says in the video.

“We should have a society that guarantees 21st century economic human rights,” she continued. “What makes Sen. Sanders very different is that his aspiration is our aspiration. That’s the kind of leadership that I think we need right now.”

Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Sanders at a rally earlier this month in Queens, New York, an event attended by roughly 26,000 people. Her endorsement was seen as a sign that the Democratic Party’s progressives are eager to see Sanders battle with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), another 2020 front-runner, for the mantle of the party’s left wing heading in to 2020.

The New York Democrat is a vocal supporter of a Green New Deal, which she introduced alongside Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) earlier this year and has since been supported by Sanders, Warren and other Democrats.

Recent polls show Sanders and Warren battling other Democrats including Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg for the advantage heading in to the Iowa caucuses, which are the first contests of the 2020 Democratic primaries.