Susan Sarandon was seen protesting outside New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s office in New York on Monday.
The Independent obtained a video of the actress, 74 years old, using a megaphone to address the crowd. Sarandon vented her dismay at AOC and “the Squad.”
“I’m here to say to the squad, and especially AOC, who, you know did make a lot of promises, that we still have faith in you and we would like to see if you have a better plan than we’ve been able to see, please share it,” Sarandon said.
She said, “Please share any pathways you know of that will help us.” We are losing hope.
“It’s so difficult for people that are independent to get elected in the first place — and then to see the very people that sponsored the bill not stand up for it, is very disheartening,” the Oscar winner concluded.
Protesters advertised the event as a Medicare for all rally. They wanted to raise awareness about the need for Biden to declare a pandemic health emergency and expand Medicare to all Americans using Section 1881A under the Social Security Act.
The protesters demanded AOC and others “use every legislative tool available to pass Medicare-for-all in Congress, including withholding and leveraging your votes to demand single-payer as a condition for passing legislation,” per their website.
They also want politicians to “use your huge social media followings, ability to get press, and celebrity to organize direct actions for Medicare-for-all.”
“So many of these progressive candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ran on being activists fighting for change. It’s time for them to leverage that power to help call on the people to come out and pressure Congress to do the right thing for once,” the event organizers pointed out.
“You campaigned on Medicare-for-all. But you didn’t demand a floor vote on it when you had the power to leverage the Speaker vote. You didn’t demand that single-payer be included in the pandemic recovery bill,” the petition explained.