-So, a lot of people are saying now that, look,
we basically are down to two candidates, it seems like.
And everyone's worried,
if one wins, will the supporters of the other
sort of agree to support
the Democratic nominee?
That's a question you get asked a lot.
Is it safe to assume that you will support Joe Biden
if he is the nominee? -Yeah, you know, I think --
You know, I've said throughout this entire process
that what is so important is that we ultimately unite
behind who that Democratic nominee is,
and I think it's a two-way street.
I've been concerned by some folks that say,
if Bernie's the nominee, they won't support him,
and the other way around.
Right now, November, you know,
this is more important than all of us,
and we really need to make sure
that we defeat Donald Trump at the polls.
Assuming and knowing,
how insane it's going to get between now and then.
-Yeah, it doesn't seem like this is going to be
a laid-back election season. -It's not going to be chill, no.
-No, it's not going to be chill.
It's not going to be like, "Honey, the debate's on.
Let's get a glass of wine." -Yeah. [ Chuckling ]
-One thing that must be surreal for you is, 2016,
you knocked on doors for Bernie Sanders.
-Yeah.
-And then two years later, you get elected congresswoman.
Now you are actually on the stump with Bernie.
When you go out on stage for these giant Bernie rallies,
does it seem --
does it seem as surreal to you that I imagine it does?
-It's completely surreal.
Just, you know, four years ago,
I was in the South Bronx,
as a volunteer,
helping organize this massive rally in St. Mary's Park,
and at the time, Bernie Sanders was
one of the first Democratic candidates
since, I believe, Robert F. Kennedy
to campaign in the South Bronx.
And to have a candidate that really saw our community
was really impactful,
and now to be able to go out and bear witness
to what so many communities
are experiencing all across the country
is just very full circle and gratifying.
-And, obviously, a lot's changed for you in the four years.
Is it safe to assume that Bernie hasn't
changed at all? [ Laughter ]
-I think he's changed a little bit.
I think he's changed,
although, he is famous for his consistency.
-I mean, I do think for those who are drawn to Bernie,
that is the thing that is impossible to argue with.
As far as a politician with consistency over the years,
I mean, he really stands out.
-He does, and he's been fighting for health care as a right
this entire time, and it's --
You know, now that I'm on the other side in Congress
and you see how much pressure there is,
you know, to bow to a lot of special interests...
The fact that he has been relying on small-dollar donors
since before the Internet kind of blows my mind.
It's like collecting little checks this whole time
and really committed to a grassroots movement
when it was way, way harder than it is even now
is really phenomenal.
-Another thing that will have huge implications,
not just on this election
but the next decade, is the census.
Can you speak about how you're approaching that
and just try to explain to people
exactly how important it is.
-So, we are all going to get census forms or a prompt.
We're all going to get mailed a prompt to fill out the census
in the next two weeks or so,
and so I think what's really important is
that we all fill this out.
It happens once every 10 years.
Every single person, no matter your documentation status,
no matter your housing status, income, et cetera,
is to be counted,
and it determines
how much our schools are going to get funded,
how much infrastructure gets invested
and, of course, how many members of Congress each community gets.
And if you get undercounted, you know --
In some parts of New York City,
some communities, the self-reporting is
about half of what we think it should be,
and that has real impacts on apportionment of,
you know, how many teachers
that your local schools get,
so it's really important.
It's completely confidential,
and it's even confidential within the federal government.
Your census data is not shared
with any other Federal Agency at all.
So, don't worry if you're having a creative living situation.
It's not gonna be told to your landlord
or anything crazy like that.
Don't worry.
Totally safe.
[ Laughter ] -A good tip.
A good tip for my viewers.
[ Laughter ]
Hello to the 10 of you watching together right now.
[ Laughter ]
I'm very happy to see you got some companionship
for yourself. -I did.
-I would imagine Washington, even though it's crowded
with people, can be very lonely.
You got a new dog.
-Yes, Deco. -Deco.
[ Audience "awws" ]
[ Applause ]
These are very --
very attractive photos of deco.
-Thank you. Thank you. -Were these professionally done?
-This was taken in the House Rules Committee.
He was a doggy chairman
of the day. -Uh-huh.
-He rotates, so there's a cast of characters,
and so they very graciously invite the dogs of many members
to take photos there. -Oh, this was not
a special treatment for you.
It's a rotating set of dogs. -Yeah, it's a thing.
So, there's a lot of different doggy chairs of the day.
-By the way, I don't know why
that's not on C-SPAN because -- -It should be!
-It should be because C-SPAN is boring and needs more dogs.
-It would be like Puppy Bowl. -[ Laughing ] Yeah, exactly.
Hey, thank you so much for being here.
It's always really nice to have you on the show.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.