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On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sat down with notable author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates as part of the fourth annual MLK Now event, which aims to honor Dr. King and his work. The two had a conversation at the historic Riverside Church in Harlem, where King once delivered a speech sharing his opposition to the Vietnam War.

At the top, Coates told Ocasio-Cortez and the audience that he thinks Ocasio-Cortez is the person in politics today that embodies Dr. King's "radical vision." He then went on to ask her about one of her current policy ideas that some are calling radical—the 70 percent marginal tax rate, which she says would theoretically heavily tax people on the money they make after their 10 millionth dollar.

On a marginal tax rate:

Ocasio-Cortez explained why she believes it's necessary, saying, "It's the policy translation to a proposed answer to: What kind of society do we want to live in? Are we comfortable with a society where someone can have a personal helipad while this city is experiencing the highest rates of people experiencing homelessness since the Great Depression? Should those two things coexist at the same time?" She continued, "I think that when we talk about marginal tax rates, 70 percent, at some point we have to start incentivizing investment in actual people, in working people, and the majority of people. And that maybe this idea of idealizing this outcome of, 'Maybe one day, you too can be a billionaire and own more than millions of families combined,' is not an aspirational or good thing."

"At some point we have to start incentivizing investment in actual people, in working people, and the majority of people."

Coates then asked if we can live in a moral world that allows for billionaires, to which she said no. Ocasio-Cortez clarified that she doesn't believe all billionaires are immoral, but she does think a system that allows for billionaires to exist when some people still get ringworm "because they don't have access to public health" is wrong.

Ocasio-Cortez speaking at a Women’s Unity Rally on Saturday. Pacific Press Getty Images

On Twitter clapbacks:

The two later moved onto the topic of social media and specifically Ocasio-Cortez's social media strategy, which Coates admitted he has mixed feelings about. The Congresswoman said that she uses platforms like Twitter to get an "honest pulse" of what people are talking about and what they believe in. "So much of what we ingest in our information diet, that informs our beliefs and viewpoints, are through the lens of mass media or radio or television," she said. "And social media, for better or for worse, is what you see, warts and all, what everybody's talking about and everybody's saying... I use social media to listen as much as I use it to speak. And I'm listening and I'm looking at these conversations and I'm seeing what's building momentum and then all it needs is an amplifier, which is why I think it's been working because I know I'm not the only one who believes these things."

But Coates was quick to point out that Ocasio-Cortez is also known to clap back at people, saying he wonders whether it's too much, whether she's engaging in the "right fights," but also admitting that it might be generational.

When asked how she decides who to respond to, she said, "I had some of our organizers ask me this, and I told the joke that basically it's like, whoever's coming at me in my mentions, with a blue check, when I haven't eaten in three hours, is who gets chosen. But it's also, it's like, what frame that we've taken for granted for so long should we be dismantling?" She continued, "When I clap back, it's not just reflexive self-defense. I'm trying to dismantle some of the frames, of misogyny, classism, racism, that we've just allowed to go on. I wish I didn't have to do this, to be frank, I wish I didn't have to, but I feel like in our public conversation, we've abandoned the posts of responsibility for a very, very long time."

She also explained that millennials, and all younger people, feel a sense of urgency to combat things like climate change, wealth inequality, and the criminal justice system: "At some point, these chronic realities do reach a breaking point, and I think for our generation, it's reached that, and I wish I didn't have to be doing every post, but sometimes I just feel like people aren't being held accountable, and until we all start pitching in and holding people accountable, I'm just going to let 'em have it."

On Ocasio-Cortez's future in politics:

The two ended the conversation, which you can watch in full in the video above, with Coates asking Ocasio-Cortez about her goals for the future. The Congresswoman said she's focusing on the next two years and, now that she's busted down a door in politics, hoping to keep that door open for others. When asked if that means she's not thinking about running for President or looking to any future position, she said, "I think the reason why I'm able and why I choose to speak the way that I choose to speak, in a way that some people would say is risky, is because I don't attach myself to some kind of ambition or vision of myself for the future... I think it is exactly that behavior that prevents people from speaking truth to power today."

Madison Feller Madison is a staff writer at ELLE.com, covering news, politics, and culture.

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