Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Ocasio-Cortez said pressure to impeach Trump is growing each day as new evidence emerges and was bolstered by Trump's comments last week that he would listen if a foreign government offered damaging information on an opponent.

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"I think for me this question should not be about polls, it should not be about elections. I think that impeachment is incredibly serious and this is about the presence and evidence that the president may have committed a crime, in this case more than one," she said. "And so I believe that our decision on impeachment should be based in our constitutional responsibilities and duties and not in elections or polling."

New on @ThisWeekABC: "This is about us doing our jobs, and if we're talking about what's going to be a victory for Trump and what's not going to be a victory for Trump, then we are politicizing and we are tainting this process," @AOC says on impeachment https://t.co/yeTv3DoYpW pic.twitter.com/yYn8ETlpNd — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 16, 2019

Asked about Pelosi holding the line, Ocasio-Cortez responded, "I believe that there is a very real animus and desire to make sure that we are holding this president to account."

Ocasio-Cortez said there is a real likelihood of the Senate refusing to convict Trump even if the House does bring articles of impeachment, adding, "I think we need to be concerned with our job in the House."

As to waiting until the president is out of office to file criminal charges, she said, "I just don't see the relevancy in calling for prosecution after he leaves office. We have the ability to actually kind of play out our responsibilities now. We have power now. And to bump it to when we don't have power I don't think makes a whole lot of sense in terms of speaking about it."