While Democrats fret about Sanders, AOC warns it's 'dangerous' for party members to not endorse the eventual 2020 nominee

As some Democrats are worried about the possibility of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) securing the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is warning that it would be "dangerous" for them not to get behind the party's eventual nominee.

In a Sunday phone interview with Time on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Ocasio-Cortez said she thinks that Democrats' efforts to stymie Sanders' primary bid are "overblown" but stressed the importance of keeping voters unified against re-electing President Donald Trump.

"Bernie has said this, I absolutely believe this: Whoever gets the nomination, we have to rally behind them, no matter who it is," the Sanders campaign surrogate said. "And I would hope that everybody would do so if Bernie is the nominee as well."

She also said she hoped that Democrats wouldn't try to stop Sanders by using party rules, noting how it could harm voter enthusiasm.

"I don't think it's a good idea for people to try to use superdelegates or other kind of subversive policies to deny anybody the nomination because it's incredibly divisive to do so, and very demoralizing, which is a direct threat in November," she said. "The moment you start playing games trying to deny whoever is the nominee, we really start to get into dangerous territory in terms of defeating Trump."

The far-left House freshman's comments were made against backdrop of some Democrats' concerns about what the self-described democratic socialist's momentum in the current primary race might mean for their party's chances in the general election against Trump in November.

A Friday story at the Daily Beast described the efforts of a group of moderate Democrats called Third Way to dissuade Iowa voters from picking Sanders, which included a document telling caucusgoers that easily searchable information about Sanders "arm the Trump team with the political equivalent of nuclear weapons," and make him "the easiest target for Trump to beat."

On Saturday, the New York Post reported that some Democratic insiders are afraid that voters might stay home or vote to re-elect President Donald Trump if the Vermont senator tops the 2020 Democratic ticket.

"For Democrats to win, the election must be a referendum on Trump and not a debate about socialism," longtime Democratic donor Michael Kempner told the Post. "The vast majority of Democrats and the nation do not believe in socialism."

Former Obama White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel warned on Sunday that Sanders' campaign might serve to "rupture" Democrats and turn off swing voters in critical battleground states, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

"We as a party, to win Arizona, to win Wisconsin, to win in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and to be viable in North Carolina, need a candidate who moves those swing moderate voters," Emanuel said.

Meanwhile, an Emerson College poll released on the eve of the Iowa caucuses showed Sanders leading his primary opponents in the state by 7 percentage points.