Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Slams Space Force Supporters Amid Opposition To Medicare For All

Outspoken New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently took aim at Donald Trump’s White House for its decision to fund Space Force amid opposition to public health care or college, Newsweek reports.

“The folks writing checks for a new Space Force are the same ones asking ‘how are you going to pay for’ public college or health care,” she tweeted on Sunday.

“This is the richest country in the world. Our problem isn’t a lack of money. It’s a lack of good priorities. And that is something we can change.”

It’s not the first time the progressive firebrand has been critical of the Trump administration’s Space Force. The 30-year-old politician spoke at a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders late last month and said that people who ask about the cost of social programs are the ones who authorize funds for the Space Force, as well as “massive infrastructure for gas pipelines” across the country.

Along with Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders — who she has endorsed for president — has also questioned the country’s decision to pay for the Space Force without first providing universal healthcare and the other social programs advocated via his platform.

“Before we create a Space Force we should make sure everyone has health care,” he tweeted back in December.

Like Ocasio-Cortez, the Vermont Sen. has noted on many occasions that the United States is the “richest country in the history of the world” when pushing for his proposals of guaranteed healthcare and free education.

“What we need is the political will,” he said.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "We have the opportunity now, this year, to not only push back on the creeping authoritarianism in the White House, but to replace it with something new and better." pic.twitter.com/yKewOwXzn1

— The Hill (@thehill) January 27, 2020

Earlier in January, Vox reported that Ocasio-Cortez spoke with Anderson Cooper for an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

She proposed that the country can pay for progressive policies on health care, housing, and education using the “same exact mechanisms” that funnel money into programs such as the Space Force. The freshman congresswoman also pointed to the GOP’s $1.5 trillion tax cut bill — which reportedly did not accomplish what the party set out to — and claimed that Republicans did not complain about its cost.

The U.S. Space Force has been controversial within Congress as well. If lawmakers ultimately disagree with the costs of the program, they can pull the plug on it at any time.

As of now, Space Force soldiers will be relied on to protect U.S. assets that are in orbit and deter international aggression. However, Trump claims that at some point in the future, it’s possible the U.S. could create and deploy its own space weapons.