Gov. Kathy Hochul and Bronx/Queens Congress Member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez represented New York in taking the stage on the first day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday.
Hochul and AOC joined fellow elected officials, union leaders and Democratic delegates from all 50 states and territories in rallying behind Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the Democratic Party’s nominees in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Women’s rights, jobs and the economy were issues both Hochul and AOC highlighted in their speeches to an in-house audience of thousands at the city’s United Center and other Americans watching online and via broadcast across the country.
‘Proud of my roots’
Hochul, who spoke at around 9 p.m. EST, focused on the economy, jobs, and manufacturing, while juxtaposing her middle-class upbringing with Trump’s privileged background.
“I’m proud of my roots and the values I learned. Grit, determination, compassion,” she said. “Kamala Harris and Tim Walz grew up with those same values. And those values have always defined the people of my state.”
While reminding the audience that Trump is a New Yorker, she also described him as a “fraud, philanderer and a felon.” She slammed Trump as an out-of-touch American, oblivious to the serious issues families across the country are facing.
“He never had to worry about child-care costs or rent,” she said. “He never had to worry about anything or anyone but himself.”
Sticking to economics, the governor added that Trump merely “talked big” about bringing back manufacturing jobs to the country, but credited President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris with getting it done.
“Look no further than the city of Syracuse, where a company called Micron is building a $100 billion microchip factory with union labor,” Hochul said. “It’s the largest private investment in American history.”
Hochul followed suit with other politicians on stage who focused on Trump’s controversial history with women and their rights.
“He abuses women, brags about it and then takes away their rights, and New Yorkers are sick of it,” the governor said.
‘We know that Trump would sell this country for a dollar’
Before AOC could talk, the to the audience chanted repeatedly, “AOC!” She then kicked off her speech with a ‘thank you’ to Biden for his leadership and then segued into a passionate affirmation of a Harris-Walz nomination.
The Congress member, who lost the Democratic Socialists of America endorsement in July, said Harris has been working “tirelessly” to end the war in the Middle East.
“She has been working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bring hostages home,” she said, garnering a rousing applause from the audience.
In true AOC fashion, the Queens and Bronx representative brought up her fight — and Harris’ fight — against corporate greed.
“We have to help her win. Because we know that Donald Trump would sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing the palms of his Wall Street friends,” she said. “I for one am tired of hearing about how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot than the woman who fights every single day to lift working people out from under the boots of greed trampling on our way of life.”
The Democratic National Convention will run each night through Aug. 22. Schedule information is available online.
