Freshman Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended her ambitious, progressive policy proposals and sometimes combative presence on social media as risky but worth it, saying it is "great" to be underestimated by her opponents.
In a wide-ranging interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday night, the youngest woman ever to be sworn into Congress stayed true to form by declaring President Donald Trump a racist and tweaking fellow Democrats who call some of her proposals unrealistic.
The 29-year-old Bronx, New York, politician's appearance on the venerable news show capped a weekend in which she continued to burnish her standing as a key voice for a new and diverse generation on issues from income equality to climate change. Her come-from-nowhere 2018 Democratic primary win and 3.5 million combined followers on Twitter and Instagram have given the new lawmaker an electric presence in Washington.