Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez To Sundance: 'This Is Not Just About The President'

Ron Dicker

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) got a movie star’s welcome at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday, telling a cheering audience via video conference that President Donald Trump isn’t the only problem in a broken system.

“This is not just about the president of the United States,” she said, per the Daily Beast, after the premiere of “Knock Down the House,” a documentary that chronicled the campaigns of Ocasio-Cortez and three other women who were first-time candidates in bids for the House of Representatives and the Senate. “He could be gone tomorrow and that will not change the systemic injustices that led to his election, so it’s important that we continue to be all hands on deck in this fight.”

Ocasio-Cortez, who had to cancel her trip to the Park City, Utah, festival due to
“complications” from the government shutdown, surprised some filmgoers with her screen appearance. She told the audience that success for progressives in the 2018 elections can expand in 2020 as long as voters believe in underdog candidates. “Don’t dismiss them,” she said in the clip below.

While the other candidates in Rachel Lears’ film ― Cori Bush, Amy Vilela and Paula Jean Swearengin ― did not win their primaries, Ocasio-Cortez said, per The Wrap: “I’m so glad that this moment for all four of us was captured and documented, not just for the personal meaning of it but for really everyday people to see that yes, this is incredibly challenging, yes, the odds are long, but also yes, that it’s worth it. And that each and every single person who submits themselves to run for office is doing a great service to this country.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.