AOC rethinking Amazon NYC deal a ‘positive step’: Joe Lieberman

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week seems to have softened her stance against Amazon setting up shop in New York City. Former independent Sen. Joe Lieberman said that the freshman Congresswoman is taking a “positive step” and hopes that it will bring the e-commerce giant back to the big city.

“Ocasio-Cortez is new at this -- she’s really young—I say that respectfully,” he told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday. “I am glad she is willing to take a second look at Amazon coming to New York.”

Amazon announced last month that it would not build a second headquarters in Long Island City, a neighborhood in Queens, following a flood of opposition from city and state officials over the $3 billion in incentives that it would receive from the deal. Amazon claimed that it would create 25,000 new high-paying jobs and invest tens of millions of dollars locally.

But in Lieberman’s opinion, the deal was much bigger than the new jobs it would have created.

“[With the deal], New York is now going to be one of the technological high-tech capitals of the world,” he said.“The city was going to make many times more back from Amazon over the years.”

Lieberman also offered Ocasio-Cortez personal advice.

“Part of the lesson here I hope she learns – you can’t respond to every problem or anything that happens in public life ideologically,” he said, adding that although Amazon is an “enormous business” and its owner Jeff Bezos is the wealthiest man in the world, the tax benefits New York was offering were “more than worth it.”

Lieberman also learned from experience that it’s OK to admit you made a mistake.

“Every now and then I learned over a long career you’ve got to be willing to say ‘I made a mistake’ or at least ‘maybe I made a mistake,’” he said. “And I think this is what the Congresswoman is saying here.”