Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezOn The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline McCarthy says there will be a peaceful transition if Biden wins Anxious Democrats amp up pressure for vote on COVID-19 aid MORE (D-N.Y.) expressed some concern with the direction of the Democratic Party in an interview with the New Yorker published Wednesday.

"I think we became the party of hemming and hawing and trying to be all things to everybody," she said when describing the evolution of the party. "And it’s not to say that we need to exclude people, but it’s to say that we don’t have to be afraid of having a clear message."

ADVERTISEMENT

"To say, we believe in the human dignity of all people. We believe that health care should be a right. We believe that all people should be paid a living wage."

Ocasio-Cortez explained that the party has a tendency to "fall into Republican frames" rather than sticking to its convictions.

"And what we call bold agendas, or Republicans call socialist, are things that they’ve always called socialist. And [we should] wear it, understand that that’s what they’re going to say, but don’t run away from the actual policies that can transform people’s lives."

The interview was conducted on July 5, shortly after tensions erupted between progressives, like Ocasio-Cortez, and centrists over legislation to provide funding to agencies handling the flow of migrants at the southern border.

Many liberals expressed disappointment that Speaker Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiPelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' On The Money: Anxious Democrats push for vote on COVID-19 aid | Pelosi, Mnuchin ready to restart talks | Weekly jobless claims increase | Senate treads close to shutdown deadline Trump signs largely symbolic pre-existing conditions order amid lawsuit MORE (D-Calif.) accepted a Senate-passed version of the $4.6 billion border bill which did not include protections for the migrants being held in border detention facilities present in the House version.

Ocasio-Cortez described the bill as a "very flawed supplemental" in her interview, before noting that the whole process around the vote was rife with miscommunication.

"The way that it came to the floor was, like, What’s going on? Who’s saying what? And you’re hearing secondhand about what might be happening, and it kind of unfolds within thirty minutes, and then, before you know it, Congress has voted on $4.6 billion with no accountability to some agency," she said.