Bernie Sanders and AOC had an 'immediate' bond after their first meeting, book says

• AOC and Bernie Sanders had an "immediate" bond upon first meeting, per a newly-released book.
• The book, written by ex-Sanders advisor Ari Rabin-Havt, touched on the progressive duo's first days together.

In 2018, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez burst on the national political scene in an huge way, defeating then-New York congressman Joe Crowley — the House Democratic chairman — in what was a Democratic primary upset.

With a progressive message that focused on housing affordability, the Green New Deal, and an overhaul in immigration enforcement, Ocasio-Cortez defeated Crowley by nearly 14 percentage points in a district anchored in the Bronx and Queens that had become increasingly diverse over the past decade.

In the 2016 presidential election, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont ran on a broadly progressive platform, and energized millions of young Americans in the process. So it was no surprise that Sanders found a kindred political spirit in Ocasio-Cortez, with the duo forging an "immediate" bond upon meeting, according to a new book by former deputy campaign manager Ari Rabin-Havt.

In the book, "The Fighting Soul: On the Road with Bernie Sanders," Rabin-Havt detailed how Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders first met and interacted with each other during a campaign swing through Kansas — noting that even early in her political career, she was able to navigate issues that might have weighed others down.

"I called Bernie and told him AOC was going to win," he wrote of Ocasio-Cortez's victory over Crowley in June 2018.

"Holy shit," Sanders replied. "Can you get me her number?"

Rabin-Havt continued: "It took a few days for them to connect, but when they did, they immediately agreed to start working on behalf of other progressive candidates. ... Bernie and AOC's bond was immediate and obvious to me. The first time they met in person was over breakfast at the hotel in Wichita. I could sense they were both extremely excited to meet each other, but also that they both were nervous about the day ahead and wanted to focus on the speeches they would be giving."

While noting that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez would go on to appear together on the CBS program "Face the Nation," Rabin-Havt spoke of her attention to detail as it pertained to preparations for the interview.

"What was remarkable to me is that even in this early moment of her career, she had the foresight to anticipate various rhetorical traps, the tenacity to demand we discuss them ahead of time, and the poise to go out and deliver a topflight performance, not only on the Sunday show but also onstage at the rally later that day," he wrote.

Rabin-Havt said that while Sanders could sometimes be relatively quiet on long car rides, he had no such qualms about opening up to Ocasio-Cortez during their first trip together.

"It was not unusual for Bernie to sit for hours in a car saying only a few words, surfing the internet on his iPad," he wrote. "But on this ride, he and AOC talked without any breaks about life in Congress, how she should set up her office, which committees she should ask to be on, and more generally, about their views of the world."

He continued: "Every time Bernie spoke with her, he would get off the phone and say, 'Ari, she is so smart.' He saw her as a politician who intuitively understood how to get her message out, who had the right set of values, and who possessed the instincts to be a true progressive leader in Washington. Reporters often tried to frame their relationship as mentor and mentee, suggesting that there was a torch to be passed. This was not, in fact, accurate. From the start, Bernie always believed he had as much to learn from AOC as she did from him."

After Ocasio-Cortez was sworn into office in January 2019, her relationship with Sanders deepened.

The congresswoman was a strong supporter of the senator's 2020 presidential campaign, and even seconded his nomination during the Democratic National Convention that year, praising his movement even while the party eventually decided to nominate now-President Joe Biden as its nominee.

And she has continued to rally with Sanders for numerous labor-related causes, especially as it pertains to the tech and online-retail giant Amazon.