Beto O'Rourke likens Green New Deal to World War II — when America sacrificed and 'made this world safe for democracy'

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke on Tuesday likened the Green New Deal touted by Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to the massive challenges of World War II when America "made this world safe for democracy."

'Existential challenge'

Speaking on a stairwell to adoring students at the University of Virginia, O'Rourke said the Green New Deal "calls to mind another time in this country's past when we faced an existential challenge. In that case it was to our way of life, to the Western democracies, to our allies in Europe, to our fellow Americans."

He continued:

In the midst of the Great Depression, this country was willing to sacrifice — men and women, all over the United States — to make sure that we defeated Germany, and that we won that war. And for the next 75 years, we made this world safe for democracy. The Green New Deal calls that service and sacrifice and scale — scale of commitment — to mind when it talks about the challenges we face today.

Ocasio-Cortez said similar things

In January, Ocasio-Cortez made similar statements in front of an audience at a New York City church, saying "millennials and Gen-Z and all these folks that come after us are looking up, and we're like, 'The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change, and ... your biggest issue is how are we going to pay for it?'"

She also said, "And like, this is the war, this is our World War II."

(H/T: Louder With Crowder)