Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is seen at outside the Capitol on April 1, 2022. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has "absolutely" felt her life has been in danger since she joined Congress, she said on CNN’s "Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace."
The big picture: Members of Congress have been sounding new alarms about their personal safety and security after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was violently attacked in their home.
- Federal officials at the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have warned of threats charged by violent extremism, particularly around the 2022 midterms.
What she's saying: "It is a very real dynamic and very unfortunately and tragically we’ve seen political violence play out," Ocasio-Cortez said.
- "It means when I wake up in the morning, I hesitate to walk my dog. It means when I come home, I have to ask my fiancé to come out to where my car is to walk me just from my car to my front door," she explained to Chris Wallace.
- "It is a general disposition where you feel like there is almost a static electricity around you, and you're always just looking around," she said. "Your head is just on a swivel."
- When asked if she feels the job is worth it, she said "I actually believe that it very much shaped my political decisions because I started to feel ... that it was possible that I may not see the end of the year."
- "I said I don't know if I have time so I need to be as robust and urgent as possible to say what I need to say," she continued.
Go deeper: FBI chief expresses alarm at rise in politically driven violence in U.S.