Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to endorse Bernie Sanders at New York rally: report

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is going to receive a major boost of support, The Washington Postreported Friday.

"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, one of the most influential voices among young liberals and a rising Democratic star, plans to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for president and appear with him at a rally on Saturday," the newspaper reported, citing "two people with knowledge of her plans."

"The surprise endorsement is a political coup for Sanders, 78, who has been fading in the polls and has faced growing questions about his age and health. Before Tuesday’s Democratic debate, he had been sidelined from the campaign trail for two weeks by a heart attack," the newspaper noted.

Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, has 5.5 million Twitter followers. To put that in perspective, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has 3.1 million followers and former Vice President Joe Biden has 3.9 million followers.

"The endorsement could be a blow for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who, like Sanders, is running on a platform of sweeping liberal change and who has emphasized her role as a female pioneer. Ocasio-Cortez had worked as a volunteer organizer for Sanders’s 2016 presidential bid; she was recruited to run for Congress in 2018 by Justice Democrats, a group that grew out of the Sanders campaign," The Post noted.

"Few figures hold as much sway in the party’s liberal wing as Ocasio-Cortez, whose 2018 primary win over then-Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) sent political shock waves across the country and made her an overnight star. Sanders recently was spotted meeting with Ocasio-Cortez in Vermont," the newspaper explained. "Her backing was a sought-after prize in the Democratic primary, and it was widely assumed that she would endorse either Sanders or Warren, the most liberal figures in the contest."

CNN is reporting that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) will also endorse Sanders.