Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is embracing her role as one of her party’s sharpest critics of President Trump as other Democrats workshop a softer approach to him.
The “squad” member skipped Trump’s inauguration, marking the first in a series of public back-and-forth exchanges with some of the president’s most loyal defenders on social media. After declaring that she doesn’t support “rapists” to explain her absence, the firebrand congresswoman later directed her ire at Elon Musk for making what many Democrats perceived to be a “Nazi salute” while giving a political speech. Now, she’s calling the early days of Trump’s presidency a “billionaire feeding frenzy.”
Her actions come as Democrats are struggling to coalesce around a unified message against Trump just two weeks into his second term, with some high-profile figures in the party, such as Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), even opening the door to working with him.
“She understands the importance of being seen doing and saying something,” said one progressive Democratic commentator in New York. “The alternative is letting Trump suck up all the media oxygen again, and that has proven disastrous for Dems.”
Instead, she has become “the party’s most aggressive member,” the source said.
Democrats have reacted to the bullhorn of Trump’s second term in a much different way from his first. Beyond being more disjointed, critics say they lack an effective counterattack. Trump’s already set off a wave of actions in January that would ordinarily alarm the party out of power, but most moves have been met with sporadic shrugs. Save a few press conferences and cable news hits, Democrats seem to have lost much of their anti-Trump spark.
Ocasio-Cortez is a notable exception. In the first days of Trump’s return to Pennsylvania Avenue, the 35-year-old lawmaker has dialed up her social media to blast what liberals see as his most controversial early moves, like the company he invited to sit in the front row during his inauguration and the flurry of domestic and foreign executive actions he has since put forth.
For other Democrats, that vim and vigor seemed to leave the party as former President Biden transferred power to Trump. “It was only on his way out that he was like, ‘This country’s controlled by oligarchs, bye,’” Ocasio-Cortez told comedian and podcast host Jon Stewart about the departing Democratic president.
The word “oligarch” is used among activists and left-wing lawmakers, but moderates are unsure if the anti-billionaire rhetoric is right for their rebrand. Like other progressives, Ocasio-Cortez has signaled that the future of the anti-Trump movement will be won by making a distinction along economic lines. “If you ask a working-class American or just any normal American, ‘What is a Democrat? What do they stand for?’ they will really not be able to give you a clear answer,” she said to Stewart.
While a few others in the Democratic caucus seem willing to agree, like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ocasio-Cortez’s name recognition and youth has gotten her noticed for pushing the loudest as Democrats deliberate their messaging.
That rhetoric can go far on social media, but there’s a lingering disappointment among Ocasio-Cortez’s supporters that she won’t be able to fight formally after losing her bid to become ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Multiple sources told The Hill her willingness to charge ahead against Trump amid Democratic apathy shows she could have handled that role.
Most also acknowledge, however, that she may be able to break through without the rules and boundaries of congressional leadership.
“She’s really come into her own and has navigated well the changing politics away from purity, but not sacrificing her fighting spirit people so loved,” said a progressive campaign strategist who works closely with a left-wing member of Congress. “She ran for Oversight chair, which would have made her the formal attack dog against Trump, but I don’t think she’s one to let titles stop her,” the strategist said.
Pete D’Alessandro, a former campaign organizer for Sanders who is close to some in Ocasio-Cortez’s inner circle, said that she is addressing a need in the current Democratic response. “I think she may be filling a vacuum she sees in terms of Dems and Trump,” he said.
She also appears willing to throw the first punch. Unlike other Democrats in reaction mode, the millennial progressive’s early proactive style has piqued Republicans’ interest. And some Trump allies seem to enjoy being baited. There’s a belief in some GOP circles that she is beatable electorally, while others think her status among her deep-blue constituents would be challenging to overcome.
Musk, who has been one of the most visible Trump lieutenants to spar with Ocasio-Cortez, has suggested on his platform X that she is worth beating at the ballot box. She took to Instagram live last week, saying: “Elon Musk can do whatever he wants behind the presidential seal, but in this country we hate Nazis.” Her comments instantly angered GOP supporters who defended the tech leader after he made a gesture that to many resembled the Nazi salute. “Two of the foundational things in American history are that we beat the confederates and we beat the Nazis,” she said.
While some Democrats see Ocasio-Cortez as a potential future leader, Republicans and third-party politicians are also envisioning the possible slot she could fill in a deeply fractured party. Some see her most recent moves as an attempt to become more mainstream, arguing that she’s trying to remake anti-Trumpism in her own mold.
“She’s becoming much more establishment,” said Larry Sharpe, a libertarian political consultant who ran for New York governor in 2022.
With a wide-open field for new talent ahead of 2026 and 2028, Sharpe and others are enjoying watching from the outside as she attempts to push the bounds of both parties.
“She has plenty of time,” he said. “AOC, realistically, is a wonderful VP pick.”
