Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CNN's "State of the Union" that "due process and justice...must center on the victim." (Photo: Screen capture/CNN)

(CNSNews.com) - Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, socialist congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said due process and justice "must center on the victim."



She was discussing the allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.



Host Tapper noted that Ocasio-Cortez supports the MeToo movement: "Do you think Brett Kavanaugh deserves the benefit of the doubt here?" Tapper asked her.



Cortez replied that Kavanaugh should not be confirmed "under any circumstances," regardless of the allegation.





"Right," Tapper interrupted. "But what about this -- what about this case -- on this case with this anonymous accusation?" he asked her.



(As of Sunday morning, the woman's name had not been released.)



"Well, I certainly think that one of the aspects of due process is that we have to hear these things out," Cortez responded. "And he should certainly not be confirmed before this is explored."



Tapper tried again: "Do you think an anonymous accusation is enough?" he asked. "What if the woman decides that she does not want to come forward? There are a lot of people who think that the kind of due process you have called for has not happened here. This was not -- this was not raised in the public confirmation hearing. It was not raised in the written requests for comment. It was not raised in the private, closed session.



"There is a way, a process, for this to happen," Tapper told her. "The Democrats had his information in July, but it didn't come out until a few days ago."



Ocasio-Cortez responded:

Yes, again, I think that, really, when we talk about process and due process and justice, it must center on the victim. I cannot say whether -- what should be done and what should not be done, because what we need to make sure is that there is due -- due justice for the victim in this case.



If she -- a lot of that depends on if she wants to come forward, if she chooses to remain anonymous. Or, frankly, when it comes to behaviors like sexual assault, it's about power. And, also, when it comes to behaviors of sexual assault, they are not one-off incidents. They are repeated.



So, perhaps this woman chooses to remain anonymous, but if -- if her account is true, there could potentially be other victims out there that are scared to come forward. And this could potentially be an act of solidarity, and for them to air that out, if they exist.

Tapper asked Ocasio-Cortez, "But does the accused deserve any due process as well?"





"Well, due process is about justice for all folks involved," Ocasio-Cortez conceded. "And when we have a lack of process, then we have a lack of justice for both victims and -- and the accused.

"But what is going on right now is that there is not due process, and we're looking at brushing a -- potentially an extremely concerning incident under the rug, which should not be occurring, especially when it comes to a Supreme Court nomination in which the Republican Party has already demonstrated that they will not disclose or they will not really unseal a lot of the documents, which they, frankly, demanded of Democratic nominees for the Supreme Court.

"They wanted to make sure that -- I mean, look at what they put Eric -- Merrick Garland through. Look at what they put Sonia Sotomayor through, yet they want to kind of hide almost everything about Brett Kavanaugh's history.

"And so I think that what this is, is that this is part of a pattern. And it's a pattern of keeping this nominee in the dark ahead of his nomination."

At this point, Tapper ended the squirm-inducing interview.

In response to an earlier question posed by Tapper, Ocasio-Cortez could not explain where she's going to get $38 trillion to pay for universal health care, which is estimated to cost $40 trillion in the next decade.

She has promised to raise taxes on the wealthy and on corporations to raise $2 trillion.

After Ocasio-Cortez essentially filibustered instead of answering the question, an apparently impatient Jake Tapper finally told her it was time to move on -- maybe she could give him an answer about raising $38 trillion the next time she comes on the show.