The politics of AOC, aka Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and President-elect Donald Trump are far apart.
So it was surprising that New York City’s 14th Congressional District — which sent liberal AOC back to Congress on Nov. 5 by a vote of 123,269 to 55,580 over Republican challenger Tina Forte — majorly boosted its votes this year for conservative Trump when it came time to select a president.
In 2020, 77% of the district voted for Joe Biden and 22% for Trump. That Trump total changed in 2024, as 33% of voters cast a ballot for the red team. In a heavily blue district, that rise is startling. AOC decided to ask her vast collection of social media followers to explain themselves on Monday.
“Let’s do this right now. If you voted for Donald Trump and me, or if you voted for Donald Trump and voted Democratic down-ballot, I would really love to hear from you,” Ocasio-Cortez said on her Instagram story. “This is not a place of judgment. I’m not going to put your stuff on blast or anything like that, or dunk on it. That’s genuinely not the intent here. I actually want to learn from you. I want to hear what you were thinking.”
She closed her caption, “I’m listening.”
The respondents’ gist is that they believe Trump and AOC “are both real,” as one reaction summed up. Other notable posts along those lines included:
- “I feel that you both are outsiders compared to the rest of D.C., and less ‘establishment.’”
- “It’s real simple… Trump and you care for the working class.”
- “Trump is going to get us the money and let’s [sic] men have a voice. You’re brilliant and have amazing passion!”
Not everyone joined hands on that premise, though. One user posted that “the responses you got make me want to barf.”
AOC laughed at the reply with an emoji. “Sometimes you’ve got to dig in and see it to understand and adapt” she said. “Even if it makes you want to barf.” She also noted that social media — owned and influenced by billionaires, she contended — is not to be taken as gospel.
“If you’re only tuning in to those mediums, you will think that most people fall along this spectrum,” Ocasio-Cortez concluded. “And a lot of people don’t, and that’s why it’s important to be at the doors, and that’s why it’s important to be on the phones, and that’s why it’s never just like a little junior thing that you grow out of, but that we always need to be listening, because you will learn a lot.”
