AOC for president in 2028? Furious speculation sweeps social media that The Squad member could be running
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has fueled speculation that she will embark on a run for president in 2028.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has fueled speculation that she will embark on a run for president in 2028.
The leftist Congresswoman has been a polarizing figure ever since she upset powerful establishment Democrat Joe Crowley in a primary in 2018, winning a seat in the House at just 29 years old.
The 2028 election - which Donald Trump has said he will not run in, leaving both parties with open primaries - will be the first one where Ocasio-Cortez can legally run, as the Constitution states you must be 35.
A new story from The Hill suggests that AOC would be among the potential 2028 Democrat contenders, who include Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Gretchen Whitmer, JB Pritzker, Josh Shapiro and Gavin Newsom.
Former Congressman Matt Gaetz added fuel to the fire, writing: Alex has told people she’s running in 2028 since 2019.
Though the Congresswoman has made no public indications she will run, multiple sources told the site she would be a top candidate.
Shes somebody who can cut through the noise and doesnt talk like Washington, said one party insider.
Another, however, is skeptical that the Squad penchant for rabble-rousing against fellow Democrats could play in a primary.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has fueled speculation that she will embark on a run for president in 2028
Former Congressman Matt Gaetz added fuel to the fire, writing: Alex has told people she’s running in 2028 since 2019
She and the squad started pushing too hard, too fast. D.C. doesnt work that way. And our party doesnt work that way. We need to get back to the basics.
On social media, several left-wing activists and pundits expressed their own skepticism that Ocasio-Cortez - who would be the furthest left Democrat to run for president since mentor Bernie Sanders failed runs - could pull it off.
I like AOC, but would be so much better for the Left to run, say, a labor leader with the potential for a wide, cross-partisan working-class appeal than an already polarizing left-wing elected from a deep blue district, said Bhaskar Sunkara, author of The Socialist Manifesto.
Lefty podcaster Matthew Sitman wrote: My honest opinion is that if AOC runs for president in 2028 she’s going to get absolutely smoked, and it’ll be interpreted as a punctuation mark on the beating back of the left Democrats have successfully undertaken after Bernie gave them a scare.
Others based their skepticism about how Ocasio-Cortez operates among the powerful in DC as a member of the House.
AOC polls around 4% rn against other potentially Democratic primary candidates which isn’t great bc she has huge name recognition, wrote comedian Kate Willett.
She could change that by running an anti establishment Bernie ‘16 style campaign but she’s likely too conciliatory to power to do that.
AOC has the skill to be a real contender, said Oscar nominated writer and journalist David Sirota.
A new story suggests that AOC would be among the potential 2028 Democrat contenders, who include Harris
On social media, several left-wing activists and pundits expressed their own skepticism that Ocasio-Cortez - who would be the furthest left Democrat to run for president since mentor Bernie Sanders failed runs - could pull it off
But if she surrounds herself with the same DC lifers who ran Dem campaigns into the ground, always counsel being nice to the establishment & always have their eye on their next DC gigs, then shell probably lose.
Iron Law Of Democratic Politics: Someone genuinely challenging the status quo cannot "nice" their way to victory. They will never win the Dem nomination unless they rip it out of the cold dead hands of the establishment - and DC careerists will never run a campaign like that, he added.
Ocasio-Cortez has been somewhat quiet since Harris loss, after she spent much of the year backing Joe Biden to stay in the race, even after his disaster debate performance in June. She eventually backed Harris.
The leading member of the House Democrats progressive Squad said in the days after the election the U.S. is entering a political period that will have consequences for the rest of our lives.
We find ourselves I believe in a time where there are lets say peers in history of massive movements of people that mobilize to protect one another in times of fascism and authoritarianism. And this is the era that we are poised to enter, AOC said.
AOC spoke about what everyone experienced with the election before giving her grim take on whats ahead.
Donald Trump has talked about turning the military on U.S. citizens that he deems his domestic political enemies. Authoritarians and people that he associates closely with and strongmen aboard in regimes like that, its not uncommon to jail political dissidents or legislative opponents, the congresswoman said.
This is the world that we very realistically may be entering, she added.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is considered a contender to run in 2028 himself
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer may also throw her hat into the ring
After finally ditching Biden, AOC was a close ally of Harris and hit the campaign trail for her with fellow Democratic lawmakers across battleground states during the election season.
The congresswoman said a lot of what happens next hinges on who controls the House, which has yet to be determined with a number of races that need to be called.
If Democrats control that House, that gives a slight ledge to resist and prevent some of the worst legislative proposals from going through, she said.
The 35-year-old also said outside the government, people need to take action to educate themselves on how the government works in what she called a very challenging and difficult time and spent the next few months preparing.
The congresswoman said no one has a crystal ball as to whether Trump will do what he claims he would do, but she argued that when he says he is going to do something believe him.
She pointed out that Trumps campaign press secretary confirmed that the president-elect remains committed to his promise of mass deportations of immigrants in the country illegally if he is elected.
The 35-year-old claimed she was not around to sugar-coat the reality, but people can choose to build, fight and support each other.
We cannot give up, she said.
The New Yorker during her remarks rejected finger pointing and argued anyone who is doing that has lost the forest for the trees.
There are a lot of different factors that have gotten to this moment, she said.
She said what is going to be most important in this time is rejecting sectarianism and the party needs to be united.
Ocasio-Cortez said they have had a huge setback with the election because the fascists won a lot of working class support and said there needs to be analysis, but she urged people not to remain divided over small differences.
AOC noted she has personal experience with this and spoke about her first bid for Congress in 2018. She pointed out that she went from being a waitress straight to being a congresswoman.
She said her own path to get there was by running not against a Republican but a Democrat who she did not believe was focused on families like hers.
The congresswoman said what she saw was a Democrat who was only running against Trump and didnt have a vision that spoke to her and her reality.
