Veteran Univision anchor Jorge Ramos continues to gush over U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), in direct conflict with the persona he has purportedly built over the past few years (the Trump years, if you will) of being a proponent and defender of the kind of journalism that must, in order to be pure, remain in direct opposition to power.
Upon watching Ocasio-Cortez’s recent appearance on ABC's This Week, Ramos took to Twitter and had this to say:
It’s always great to hear her unafraid, strong voice @AOC pic.twitter.com/RQkoJGGagI
— JORGE RAMOS (@jorgeramosnews) June 16, 2019
It is unclear which part of Ocasio-Cortez’s interview Ramos found to be “bold” and “brave”, whether her support for repeal of the Hyde Amendment, or her unsubstantiated allegation that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos became a billionaire by paying his employees “starvation wages.”
Of course, Ramos’ boosterism of Ocasio-Cortez isn’t a new thing. It wasn’t that long ago that we noted Ramos’ column cheerleading her signature Green New Deal, cow farts and all, and spotted a trend. As we said back then:
Ultimately, the “Green Dream” is a vehicle through which Ramos can heap praise and spotlight on Ocasio-Cortez, while avoiding tough questions on the radical Green New Deal. Rather than adhering to self-styled instinctive opposition to power, Ramos coddles it and affords it his fullest measure of obsequiousness, the furthest thing from his storied "contrapoder" ("opposition to power") schtick.
Just a few weeks later, Ramos would devote a Facebook Watch show to the radical redefinition of “democratic socialism”, Ocasio-Cortez’s self-professed ideology:
JORGE RAMOS: So what, exactly, is democratic socialism? It’s the idea that democracy and the economy work best when there is a strong social safety net - one that provides people with universal access to education and healthcare, one that protects workers and the environment. Democratic socialism believes that people can participate best in a democracy when their basic needs are taken care of. Democratic socialism is different from traditional socialism. Traditional socialism calls for a state-run economy with no free-market capitalism. In practice, traditional socialism often ends in authoritarian disaster. Think of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and North Korea. They all call themselves “socialist countries”. This is what older generations think of when they hear the word “socialism”: poverty, repression, and lack of individual freedoms. But younger generations tend to think of socialism as a system of basic guarantees, protections, and rights for all workers, children, the elderly, and the environment. Most democratic socialists aren’t advocating for a government takeover. They simply want a level playing field for everyone to succeed.
In many ways, Ramos’ explainer on democratic socialism is a follow-up to his interview of Ocasio-Cortez on Univision’s Sunday political talk show Al Punto, wherein he used identical language when asking the socialism question:
JORGE RAMOS: Alexandria, what is a socialist like in 2018? And let me put that in context. There are many people here in the United States that - when they think about socialism - they compare it to the communism of the former Soviet Union. Why is your socialism so different from those history lessons?
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, this is a...what we’re talking about is...democratic socialism. And that is something very different because what we are talking about is only a guarantee for..um...so families can have stable housing, educational stability and opportunity for their children, as well as for healthcare insurance in the United States. Those, for me, are basic rights in the 2018 economy. That’s...that’s it and it’s not much more, and not much less.
In hindsight, it almost looks like Ramos sought to append to Ocasio-Cortez’s answer on Al Punto. Between his body of work so far on the Democrat and last week’s servile tweet, it is clear that Ramos is selective as to what power he chooses to be on the opposite of.
In this instance, Ramos is perfectly okay with cozily basking in power’s warmth and light - the exact opposite of the code he would impose on his colleagues.
