Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, warned her party on Sunday about “confused” messaging following President Donald Trump’s election win.
Newsweek has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’ office and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Following last year’s election, Democrats remain divided as progressives have blamed former Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss on a failure to turn out the base, arguing her strategy of campaigning with Republicans like former Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney alienated longtime Democratic voters. More moderate Democrats, however, say that Harris was perceived as too liberal by voters and that Democrats should move toward the center to achieve future election victories.
Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat who has been an outspoken critic of Trump’s, has positioned herself as the future of the party and a candidate for change.
What To Know
In a Sunday podcast episode on Latino USA with host Maria Hinojosa, Ocasio-Cortez spoke about the Democratic loss in last year’s presidential election as well as the loss of the Senate and House majority as she pointed towards the Democratic Party’s “confused” messaging.
“I think structurally, overall, the Democratic Party has this confused message,” she told Latino USA. “We’re supposed to be a party of the working class, and I think working-class people have not been seeing government work for them, despite a lot of the things that the Biden administration did do.”
The congresswoman added: “I have a weird relationship with the Democratic Party. I don’t believe in a two-party system, but I also understand the Democratic Party is a coalition and if we want the party to change, the balance of the coalition has to change. But right now, you open the hood on the Democratic Party, what you have is, I think, a bit of a power struggle over the last couple of years.”
In addition, this comes as tensions around immigration and Trump’s mass deportation efforts ramp up as Ocasio-Cortez spoke about how her party lost affluent Latino voters in the 2024 election.
“Especially when we talk about Latinos, I will tell you in our community the anger was less about we need to deport immigrants, the anger was actually how the Trump administration and the campaign was actually very surgical and very sophisticated about drawing a wedge between undocumented people and recent arrivals and asylum seekers,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez continued: “For all of the people who cast a vote based on grocery prices and inflation, if you think your groceries are expensive now, wait until the farms are empty. Understand the consequences of what this means because for America to not accept immigrants is the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.”
Trump has made immigration a central theme of his presidential campaign and Americans largely support his mass deportation plans.
A New York Times/Ipsos poll, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported “Deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records.” Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken.
The Trump administration has vowed to conduct the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history targeting the estimated 11.7 million people who are in the country without legal status.
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks come after she previously lost the race to become the next House Oversight Committee ranking Democrat to Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia.
Her bid to become the top Democrat on the committee was one of progressives’ first battles in the fight to shape the future of the party after their defeats last year.
In addition, as the Democratic Party continues to rally after its loss, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced on Saturday afternoon that its members have elected Ken Martin as its new chairperson.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, speaks onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024, in Chicago.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
What People Are Saying
TJ Adams-Falconer, former White House senior media affairs manager during the Obama administration said in December: “DC Democrats simply do not understand the nature of the work & fight ahead.”
Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat, told NPR in December about joining the Republican-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) House caucus: “On some issues I’m progressive. On other issues I’m conservative, and I think that’s how most of my constituents are. We take it issue by issue.”
Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat who represents Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House has emerged as a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s actions regarding immigration, previously told Newsweek: “I find all of Trump’s proposed policies on this topic to be outrageous. The reality of the matter is that Democrats, alongside Republicans, agree that we need comprehensive immigration reform and we need a secure border. None of the policies that Trump has proposed address these issues.”
What Happens Next
As the Trump administration continues its stance on immigration enforcement, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations will likely continue to escalate.
Meanwhile, Martin will begin implementing his “build” framework immediately as the new DNC chair. His leadership, Martin says, will focus on holding the Trump administration accountable, uniting and charting a new path for the party and fighting for working families.
