U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks as, from left, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., listen during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, July 15, 2019. President Donald Trump on Monday intensified his incendiary comments about the four Democratic congresswomen of color, urging them to get out if they don’t like things going on in America. They fired back at what they called his “xenophobic bigoted remarks” and said it was time for impeachment. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A few days ago, I wrote on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez not endorsing Joe Biden. She had done an interview with The New York Times in which she was fairly harsh on the poor old guy. At one point, she called his outreach “insulting” regarding healthcare policy (see AOC Lashes Out As Bernie Sells Her Down the River and Biden Doesn’t Come Calling).

But now, news is breaking that AOC is in talks with the former VP to go ahead and endorse him.

NEWS: @AOC team is in talks with Biden about an endorsement, she is seeking different climate, immigration, Puerto Rico and healthcare plans from him

— Erik Wasson (@elwasson) April 15, 2020

Now, there are several possibilities here. As I speculated in my piece linked above, I’ve also supposed that AOC would fold. She craves power more than a revolution and it’s possible she could extract a few nominal concessions from Biden (i.e. empty promises about social justice and such) in the process.

My suspicion is that she’ll cave. Like all good Marxists, she craves power more than she does actual institutional change. It’s all fun and games until she ends up having her seat redistricted out of existence and she’s back tending bar.

In the meantime, AOC will make some noise and attempt to exert influence.

So is that what’s happening? I actually think there’s more to it and that AOC managed to find the one pressure point Biden is most afraid of. Namely, the sexual assault allegation which continues to be an issue despite the media’s best attempts to bury it.

What did AOC say about that just yesterday?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "It's legitimate to talk about" allegations against Joe Biden https://t.co/3qlDg9UcwC pic.twitter.com/zBDGFKT71J

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 15, 2020

AOC makes this comment and then poof, just like that, Biden calls her up and they are in talks for an endorsement. It’s almost as if the #metoo movement has been turned into a complete joke, able to be covered up at will via political agreements.

Joe Biden obviously wanted no part of having AOC and her wing propagating the sexual assault claim against him. He’s succeeded in having outlets like the Times and the Post run interference for him, even trashing Tara Reade along the way, but he has no such control over Bernie’s fanbase. Getting an endorsement from their biggest star gives him that.

I have to give it to her though. AOC is nothing if not cunning. She’s managed to go from a nobody freshman congresswoman to the upper echelons of Democratic party influencers in a very short period of time. We can make fun of her all we want, but that takes skill and a lack of shame usually relegated to the Adam Schiff’s of the world.