Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused establishment Democrats of treating her “like shit” as progressive activists urged her to run for president in 2028.

In a 100-minute long video posted on Instagram, the 37-year-old congresswoman from New York said that the party had a “remarkable opportunity” to pass left-wing policies after the midterm elections. She also accused the party’s leadership of starving funds from left-wing candidates during the campaign.

“There’s this huge conversation about candidates that were under invested in,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She cited Angie Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who came within 240,000 votes of flipping Florida from red to blue, but ultimately lost to the Republican candidate Ashley Moody.

“If Angie Nixon had just had a little bit of that support, that outcome could have changed. But that money has to come from somewhere and it comes from these people,” Ocasio-Cortez said in reference to the party’s Senate leadership.

Reflecting on the period after she was first elected to Congress in 2018 at the age of 29, Ocasio-Cortez accused senior Democrats of being “horrifically cruel” to her. “I mean I was treated like shit,” she said. “Everybody took a swing at me.”

The Bronx congresswoman is seen as the likeliest progressive candidate to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028.

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[–] 2 points 2 days ago (4 children)

She's 37... if she were to become president in '28 and if she were to win 2 terms she'll be an ex-president before she's 50. At that point she'll pretty much be done with politics, other than potentially being pulled out for some crucial election campaigning - but even that is very rare.

She doesn't need to be president, at least not at this point in her career. She's an effective congresswoman, and she'd make an incredible Senator. She doesn't even need to be a leader of either chamber, she just needs to be a consistent champion of progressive values and help grow the progressive coalition in our government.

If she can carry on Bernie's work and help bend our government back towards democratic socialism, then she'd be a great leader for the 2036 election. But she still has too much important work to do now to be distracted by a run for the white house.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago (3 children)

    JFK was president at 43... Do you think he would have been "done with politics" at 51 if he hadn't been shot in the head?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Yes, I do.

    Obama was 55 when he left office, and he's basically sidelined now. He could come back as a senator, congressman, or cabinet... but he hasn't. He's given some speeches (and they are great speeches - he still has access to amazing writers) but he isn't writing laws or shaping policy.

    Clinton was 54 when he left office... same thing. He came out at election time and stumped for candidates, but didn't get his hands dirty with the real work

    George W was 62, and I don't think he's even stepped on the campaign trail for anyone else.

    Why would JFK or AOC be any different?

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago (1 child)

    given some great speeches came out stumped for candidates

    Those things are politics

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  • At that point she'll pretty much be done with politics, other than potentially being pulled out for some crucial election campaigning - but even that is very rare.

    Yes, you're right, and I acknowledged that in my original post. It is politics, but it is a very small part of politics and it is very rare for an ex-president to do after serving 2 terms.

    I believe that AOC has a lot more potential as an active lawmaker than as a decorative figurehead to be dusted off every 4 to 6 years to come out and read a speech.

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