Trevor Noah grills Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: 'How do you pay for all these ideas?'

(Image credit: Comedy Central)

published July 27, 2018

Rising political star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has received both criticism and praise for embracing the label of "democratic socialist." But The Daily Show's Trevor Noah pointed out that many Americans don't fully understand the platform, with vocal critics expressing doubt that the U.S. could pay for things like Medicare for all and socialized housing. Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic primary for New York's 14th congressional district last month, toppling incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley.

"Those ideas, I think most people would agree on, especially if they don’t know the label that they are attached to, you know?" said Noah after the two discussed the stigma behind the word "socialism." But at the same time, he said, "how do you pay for these? You always see people coming in with economic arguments, and they say, 'look, these numbers don’t really add up.'"

Ocasio-Cortez called it an "excellent, excellent question," and argued that higher taxes on corporations would help generate the funds, as well as getting wealthy individuals to "pay their fair share" and closing financial loopholes. That would generate "two trillion dollars in 10 years," toward the estimated $3 trillion or $4 trillion it would cost to shift to universal health care, she said. Watch Noah press her further below, via Comedy Central. Summer Meza

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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.

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