AOC speaks to the middle class in her first major convention ...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The NPR Network will be reporting live from Chicago throughout the week bringing you the latest on the Democratic National Convention.

New York Representative and member of the "Squad," Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, began her speech at the DNC by thanking Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for their "vision," and Joe Biden for his "leadership."

She then weaved her own story of growing up middle class in New York into the stories of the upbringings of Harris and Walz.

"There is nothing wrong with working for a living. Imagine having leaders who understand that," she told the cheering crowd.

This was the congresswoman's first major convention speech, for which she was given a primetime slot. In 2020, Ocasio-Cortez addressed the DNC crowd with a pre-recorded minute-and-a-half-long endorsement for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Ocasio-Cortez also used her time at the podium to slam former President Trump, saying, “We know Trump would sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing palms of his Wall Street friends."

"I, for one, am tired of hearing about how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot than the woman who fights every single day to lift working people out from under the boots of greed trampling on our way of life," she added.

The congresswoman was also seemingly the first person on stage to reference Israel's war on Gaza, saying that Harris has been “working tirelessly to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.”

Following the end of her speech, the crowd cheered, "AOC! AOC!" as she walked off the stage.

Watch her full remarks here:

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