AOC underwhelmed by Biden’s SOTU speech, says he should have pushed more social welfare programs

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was left unsatisfied by President Biden’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday, saying he should have emphasized the need to pass more social welfare programs such as student debt relief.

The New York Democrat and a leader of the party’s ultra-progressive wing praised Mr. Biden for his themes of unity, but said he “glossed over immigration” and left her desiring a stronger commitment from the administration on other key issues.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said she would have liked to see the president focus more on creating a pathway to citizenship for young immigrants in the country known as the “Dreamers.”

“The piece on immigration was really just glossed over, and we have … between 10 to 13 million immigrants in this country that feel desperate for a path to citizenship,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez told MSNBC.

The congresswoman added that she thinks there are still priorities people want to be assured are included in the president’s agenda.

“There’s some themes that are left a little bit to be desired for key constituencies in the Democratic base, but the president’s goal was very clear on really projecting a theme of unity and I think he’s still stuck to that,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the far-left “Squad” in Congress, which also includes Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. They have pushed Mr. Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress to embrace a more far-reaching package of government social welfare programs.

Ms. Tlaib gave a liberal response to both Mr. Biden’s address, and the GOP response delivered by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Ms. Tlaib called on the president to cancel federal student loan debt, reduce drug costs, and continue the push to pass his $2 trillion social spending bill, dubbed Build Back Better. Divisions among Democrats have helped put that bill in a deep freeze in the Senate.

Mr. Biden focused his speech on the war in Ukraine, bipartisanship and mitigating the coronavirus pandemic. The president also briefly touched later in his speech on issues such as immigration, inflation and his upcoming legislative agenda.