Austin's South by Southwest festival has been a popular destination for several 2020 presidential candidates this weekend, but a freshman congresswoman proved to be the biggest draw of any of the event's political speakers.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) reportedly sparked enough interest that her audience filled a massive ballroom "to the brim" on Saturday, far outdrawing presidential candidates like Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Per Slate, the space could not accommodate everyone who wanted to see her remarks.
Ocasio-Cortez, who considers herself a democratic socialist, used the opportunity to try to dispel the idea that political moderation is a viable way of getting things done in Washington in this day and age. "Moderation is not a stance," she told interviewer Briahna Joy Gray of The Intercept. "It's just an attitude of, like, 'meh'."
She also said that capitalism "cannot be redeemed" and dismissed fear mongering about democratic socialism.