Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic Socialist and candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Monday that being accused of sexual assault could benefit one’s career, rather than end it.

“A sexual assault allegation does not kill a career but accelerates it,” Ocasio-Cortez said at Columbia University where she took part in a panel discussion and was asked to weigh in on the unsubstantiated accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

“I hope that at some point, it keeps them up at night,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I really do … it’s beyond politics.”

The Columbia Spectator reported on the panel discussion, which was moved from the campus to a nearby church because of the university’s prohibition of partisan events.

Ocasio-Cortez argued at the event that the progressive base of the Democrat Party is growing and repeated her call for the elimination of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency tasked with protecting public safety in the interior of the United States, including protection from criminal illegal aliens.

“We need to not be afraid to take strong, moral stances,” said Ocasio-Cortez, who won New York’s 14th Congressional District primary against veteran Democrat Joe Crowley. “We pinned our campaign on a moral argument … and then we won on that moral argument … It’s not about testing and seeing what’s viable, it’s about making things viable.”

The Spectator reported:

A student associated with the Roosevelt Institute asked Ocasio-Cortez about her thoughts on Barnard’s investment in the Baupost Group, which holds some $911 million in Puerto Rican debt and has called for austerity measures in the area affected by Hurricane Maria. In response, Ocasio-Cortez advised students that the most effective way to enact change at institutions like Columbia or Barnard is to pressure the individuals who hold decision-making power. Ocasio-Cortez also emphasized the importance of engaging with minority groups that Democrats have neglected in the past, saying that if the party does not support marginalized communities, it cannot expect their vote.

“Unless we consciously communicate that we are changing course, with a renewed commitment to these communities, I don’t think we can just expect them to turn out,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

The event included voter registration.

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