It is an honor to be here alongside Senator Bernie Sanders. I want to share what Bernie has meant to me.

It was Bernie’s campaign for the presidency in 2016 that gave me the language of democratic socialism to describe my politics. And it was Bernie’s Queensbridge rally on October 19, 2019, that was the first political event of my campaign for state assembly.

That was unbeknownst to Bernie and his team. We were canvassing the line to get into his rally. We were asking for $1, $5, $10, emails — whatever we could. And we walked inside to this rally, and I remember the electrifying feeling we felt of a campaign reborn and a movement reborn alongside every single borough of this city.