Freshman 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.) bluntly stated "Tax the rich" on Twitter Tuesday night as 2020 Democratic presidential candidates debated matters such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenOvernight Defense: Appeals court revives House lawsuit against military funding for border wall | Dems push for limits on transferring military gear to police | Lawmakers ask for IG probe into Pentagon's use of COVID-19 funds On The Money: Half of states deplete funds for Trump's 0 unemployment expansion | EU appealing ruling in Apple tax case | House Democrats include more aid for airlines in coronavirus package Warren, Khanna request IG investigation into Pentagon's use of coronavirus funds MORE's proposed wealth tax.

Ocasio-Cortez, a former organizer for Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign, made the statement as Warren faced scrutiny from a range of candidates, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar Amy Klobuchar3 reasons why Biden is misreading the politics of court packing Social media platforms put muscle into National Voter Registration Day Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight MORE (D-Minn.) and businessman Andrew Yang Andrew YangBiden's latest small business outreach is just ... awful Doctor who allegedly assaulted Evelyn Yang arrested on federal charges The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden weighs in on police shootings | Who's moderating the debates | Trump trails in post-convention polls MORE, about the potential impacts of her proposed wealth tax.

Tax the rich. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 15, 2019

Warren, who has seen her support gradually increase throughout the election cycle, has made a wealth tax a centerpiece of her campaign. The proposal calls for imposing a 2 percent tax on the wealth of people with more than $50 million in assets, while those with assets more than $1 billion would face a 3 percent tax.

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"I think this is about our values as a country. Right now in America, the top one-tenth of one percent have so much wealth," Warren said, later asking,"My question is not why do Bernie and I support a wealth tax, it's why does everyone else on the stage think it is more important to protect billionaires than it is to invest in an entire generation of Americans?"

Elizabeth Warren on closing the income gap: "My question is not why do Bernie and I support a wealth tax, it's why does everyone else on the stage think it is more important to protect billionaires than it is to invest in an entire generation of Americans?" #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/XHQV586X4W — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 15, 2019

"No one is supporting billionaires," former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenFormer Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick Bloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida MORE quickly responded.

Klobuchar later took aim at the proposal, saying that "no one on this stage wants to protect billionaires."

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"Not even the billionaire wants to protect billionaires. We just have different approaches," she said.

Yang also said that the wealth tax makes a lot of sense "in principle," but noted that it had been tried and failed in countries such as Germany and Sweden.

"If we can't learn from the failed experiences of other countries, what can we learn from?" he asked.

Addressing the issue, Sanders, who has been outspoken about inequality, reiterated his demand that the wealthiest in America start paying their fair share in taxes.

"If you are asking me, do I think we should demand that the wealthiest, top one-tenth of 1 percent start paying their fair share of taxes, so we can create a nation and a government that works for all of us — yes, that's exactly what I believe," Sanders said.