Ilhan Omar vows to push Biden on far-left policies if he's elected

Ilhan Omar called upon Joe Biden to nominate exclusively progressives to his cabinet and implement a number of progressive policies in an interview with Axios's Alexi McCammond on Monday.

"We will have a cohort of progressives that are very clear about their objectives for wanting the implementation of, you know, Medicare For All and a Green New Deal and raising the minimum wage and not allowing for fracking," Omar told McCammond. While these issues vary in popularity, Omar did not mention less popular progressive initiatives such as defunding the police and boycotting Israel.

McCammond, however, pressed Omar on this claim, asking why Democratic voters would overwhelmingly pick Joe Biden, widely perceived as a moderate, to lead the party against Trump if they really are more favourable towards the policies of Bernie Sanders. Joe Biden captured nearly twice the number of voters as Bernie Sanders in the primaries.

Omar suggested in response that there is a "disconnect" between candidate and policy arguing "these people trusted [Joe Biden] to lead, but these were the policies that they want [him] to lead on." She then called on Biden to "act accordingly."

Omar also suggested that "all of the cabinet positions should be filled by progressive Democrats," assuring McCammond that progressive policies are the "most popular with the the American people."

When asked how these suggestions fit in with the Republican claim that Joe Biden would serve as "a Trojan horse of the radical left," Omar dismissed the concerns, stating that Republicans like to use progressives as a "boogeyman," asserting that progressive positions "resonate with the challenges that everyday Americans are having."