AOC is leaving her 2028 options open
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks with reporters in Washington, D.C., last month. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) left the door open Sunday to either running for president in 2028 or challenging fellow New Yorker and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Why it matters: Ocasio-Cortez is emerging as a leading potential heir to the movement built by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and whichever path she chooses could reshape the future of Democratic politics.
Driving the news: ABC's Jonathan Karl asked Ocasio-Cortez on "This Week" whether she would run for president, after noting a recent New Hampshire poll showed her leading the prospective Democratic field.
- "I'm focused on winning the midterms. I'm running for Congress right now," she responded, before adding, "I haven't ruled out the possibility, and I'm very humbled to the tremendous amount of support out there."
- When Karl asked whether running for Senate against Schumer was also possible, Ocasio-Cortez said that "anything is possible at this juncture."
The big picture: Ocasio-Cortez cast Abdul El-Sayed's victory in Michigan and a broader wave of insurgent Democratic victories as signs the party is undergoing a generational "renewal."
- "Millennials are not, you know, punk kids anymore. We're grown adults with mortgages and kids," she said.
- "That generation is starting to be decisive at the polls," she added. "We're taking the reins."
Zoom in: Ocasio-Cortez also sounded markedly more pragmatic than the young challenger who shocked the Democratic establishment in 2018.
- Explaining why she has stayed out of primaries against House colleagues this cycle, Ocasio-Cortez said "politics is also a workplace." Her endorsements have largely targeted open seats, plus unseating incumbents in New York's state legislature.
- She also distanced herself from some of the left's most polarizing positions in 2020.
- "Rhetoric in that time is not rhetoric that we would use today," she said as she approvingly cited New York City Council member Chi Ossé's viral "Woke 1 was crazyyyy" response to one of his own old posts.
The bottom line: Ocasio-Cortez says her focus remains on the midterms.
- But Sunday's interview did little to tamp down the 2028 speculation.
