If progressive rising-star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is the future of the party, Democrats are in trouble, Joe Lieberman said Thursday.
In remarks to Fox Business' Neil Cavuto, the former Democrat — who was the party’s vice presidential nominee in 2000 before becoming an independent— said the party has take a wider view.
"With all respect, I certainly hope she's not the future, and I don't believe she is," he said.
"She's gotten a lot of attention because she's different. She's controversial," Lieberman said of the 29-year-old lawmaker the youngest women ever elected to Congress.
"But if you look at the majority of new Democrats in the House, they tend to be, I say, center-left, and not left-left. And that is because they had to be center-left to win some of those competitive swing districts that they took from Republicans. So, that's the hope."
Lieberman said the self-described Democratic socialist runs against a shift in the party to the center of the political spectrum.
Ocasio-Cortez has proposed a 70 percent income tax rate on highest earners to fund a green energy plan — but Lieberman said the United States already has a progressive income tax system.
"If you . . . accumulate income in the country the big bump is still in the middle class," he said. "So, you've got to be careful about raising taxes too high . . . a 70 percent tax on high-income people is really done for political reasons."