Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Monday, August 24, 2020. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images/Pool Former President Barack Obama said in a Monday night interview that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should have gotten more time to speak at the Democratic Convention in August. Obama said the freshman congresswoman "speaks to a broad section of young people" and argued that "new blood is always good," pointing out that he was once the "young, shiny cool guy." Ocasio-Cortez was given just 60 seconds to speak at the convention, where she delivered a symbolic endorsement of Sen.