AOC Sharpens Attacks on Vice President Vance as 2028 Talk Grows
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has increasingly trained her fire on Vice President Vance, a potential rival in a 2028 presidential contest, as speculation builds over whether she might seek the White House, The Hill reports.
Over the past week, Ocasio-Cortez has highlighted what she describes as a deep divide between her worldview and Vance’s, pointing to their sharply different reactions to the recent Minneapolis shooting. She has argued that Vance’s defense of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent involved reflects a vision of America she rejects.
“I understand that Vice President Vance believes that shooting a young mother of three in the face three times is an acceptable America that he wants to live in, and I do not,” she told a gaggle of reporters earlier this month.
“And that is a fundamental difference between Vice President Vance and I. I do not believe that the American people should be assassinated in the street.”
The congresswoman, widely known as AOC, is weighing her next political move. According to sources familiar with her thinking, she has not yet decided whether to pursue a Senate bid in New York — which could put her in a primary against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in 2028 — or to mount a national campaign for president. Still, her rhetoric and posture increasingly resemble that of a White House hopeful.
Democrats have taken note that Ocasio-Cortez is now regularly addressing issues that extend well beyond her district, touching on domestic and foreign matters alike, from developments in Venezuela to debates over health care subsidies. Many in the party see that as a sign she is positioning herself for a presidential run.
“The mini primary for 2028 has already begun and she’s in it. And people want her to be in it,” said Democratic strategist Hyma Moore. “She knows she has a chance to potentially run for president and be president so she doesn’t want to be caught unprepared.”
Her critiques of Vice President Vance, in particular, have moved to the forefront of her public messaging.
Earlier this week, she intensified those attacks after being asked about remarks from Vance suggesting that the woman killed in Minneapolis was a victim of her own ideology.
“As far as what a person like that believes, you have to start right there with the person you’re dealing with,” Ocasio-Cortez told The Independent’s Washington bureau chief Eric Garcia.
Last month, she also amplified attention around a poll conducted by The Argument/Verasight indicating she would narrowly defeat Vance in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, 51 percent to 49 percent, among registered voters.
“Bloop!” the congresswoman wrote on X, the social media platform, while sharing the poll.
Asked later about the survey, Ocasio-Cortez brushed off the question with humor.
“Let the record show: I would stomp him. I would stomp him!” she said, laughing, before walking away outside the Capitol.
Vance is widely viewed as the early frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, though some within the party have floated Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a possible alternative. Last summer, President Trump said he would “most likely” back Vance with his endorsement.
At a Turning Point USA conference, Vance also received an early nod of support from Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Moore said Ocasio-Cortez is deliberately employing multiple lines of attack as she goes after the vice president.
“He’s the early GOP/MAGA frontrunner [and] no one else has formed a salient anti-Vance message,” Moore said. “She has to show she can really jump into the high-stakes political arena.”
Another Democratic strategist echoed that view, saying it is “pretty clear that there is a particular clarity that AOC speaks with when she is going after JD Vance.”
“She’s not just disagreeing with a political opinion, she’s offering a countering vision of the country,” the strategist said. “Hard to miss the foreshadowing of what 2028 could look like.”
Within Democratic circles, many believe Ocasio-Cortez would have a viable path if she entered a presidential primary.
She would likely emerge as the leading standard-bearer for the progressive wing of the party, a role previously occupied by Sen. Bernie Sanders during his challenges to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez appeared together before large crowds across the country last year.
“It’s going to be a different cycle than the ones we’ve seen before because it’s not clear there will be strict [ideological] lanes,” said Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, co-host of the Politicon podcast “Trailblaze,” which is dedicated to the 2028 race.
“However, the AOC-Bernie lane may be the most distinctive lane that exists,” Simmons said.
“If she runs, she will be a factor the same way Bernie was a factor because there is populist progressive hunger in the electorate,” he added. “And if Bernie passes the torch to AOC, she will be a phenomenon.”
At the same time, Democrats acknowledge that her toughest competition in a primary could come from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who many in the party already regard as the leading contender for 2028.
Newsom has recently strengthened his standing with Democrats by aggressively challenging President Trump and by championing Proposition 50, the redistricting initiative that won voter approval in California in November.
Since that victory, Newsom has expanded a nationwide email list of Democratic supporters and continued to demonstrate his fundraising prowess, two assets that would immediately boost any presidential campaign.
Party insiders say Newsom currently stands in a class by himself in the 2028 field, though some privately speculate that Ocasio-Cortez could join him in that top tier.
“There is no one else on the list besides Newsom who has that x-factor, name ID, an ability to draw crowds, a natural communication style, a fundraising draw,” said a second Democratic strategist. “She is the only Democrat I can think of right now who has a path out of the primary.”
Even so, a presidential run would not be without hurdles for the 36-year-old lawmaker. Among the challenges frequently discussed is her age, as well as lingering unease among some Democrats about nominating another woman after the party’s defeats in 2016 and 2024, when Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris respectively headed the ticket.
“It’s something that comes up all the time,” one Democratic strategist said. “It’s very real.”
Before any of that, Ocasio-Cortez must first choose which race, if any, she will enter.
“I’ve always believed she’s far more likely to challenge Schumer for the Senate in 2028 than to run for president, but she obviously has the national profile for either,” said Democratic strategist Christy Setzer.
Setzer pointed to President Barack Obama, who faced criticism early on from skeptics who argued he lacked sufficient experience for a presidential run.
“As Obama’s advisers told him, you’re never fully ready to run for president, but if there’s an opening, you just have to grab it.”
As Moore summed it up, “She’s starting to lay the seeds.”
“She’s being very smart about positioning herself well,” he said.
{Matzav.com}
