Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attended the Munich Security Conference for reasons that are hard to understand. Why would anyone be interested in hearing from someone who has no power to shape policy at an event filled with political elites? You typically go only if you’re planning to run for president in 2028, and AOC has been rumored as a potential candidate. It’s only a matter of time before this New York progressive official announces her candidacy. She’s been on nationwide tours with Bernie Sanders discussing oligarchy—clearly, it’s all a strategic move.
Still, Ms. AOC isn’t happy with the overage of her Munich trip, since most of it was centered on 2028 speculation and her embarrassing gaffe regarding why the Trump administration raided Caracas, Venezuela, in January, which led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro: AOC said it was because the country was below the equator. It is very much not. She did damage control with The New York Times, where she lamented how her message on the dangers of authoritarianism:
And the visit to Germany felt high-stakes: It was the most prominent foreign trip to date by the progressive New York congresswoman, who had mostly focused on domestic priorities until now. Her remarks last week about addressing working-class concerns around the globe, and the reception from world leaders, were both eagerly awaited and highly scrutinized.
But rather than the substance of her arguments, it was her on-camera stumbles when answering questions about specific world affairs that rocketed around conservative social media and drove plenty of the discussion about her visit, as political observers speculated whether they would make a dent in a potential presidential run in 2028.
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The way her performance was microscopically dissected through the lens of what it meant for a hypothetical White House campaign frustrated Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, 36. She said she worried that her message — warning that wealthy world leaders must better provide for their working classes or risk their countries sliding toward authoritarianism — was being lost in all the commotion.
So on Monday night, while still in Berlin, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez spoke to The New York Times by phone and tried to underscore that message.
“This reporter came up to me and was like, ‘Is Munich the new New Hampshire?’ And I cannot say enough how out of touch and missing the point, genuinely, that is,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview, referring to the state’s tradition of hosting early presidential primary contests. “Global democracies are on fire the world over, and established parties are falling to right-wing populist movements.”
To Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, the discourse about her visit had missed the more important point about the risks of authoritarianism — an argument that she said had been well-received by the Europeans during two foreign policy panels, private meetings with German leaders and an address in a packed university auditorium in Berlin.
She added that she had gone to Munich “not because I’m running for president, not because I’ve made some kind of decision about a horse race or a candidacy, but because we need to sound the alarm bells that a lot of those folks in nicely pressed suits in that room will not be there much longer if we do not do something about the runaway inequality that is fueling far-right populist movements.”
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez argued that efforts to make clips of “any five-to-10-second thing” from her remarks go viral online, especially in the conservative ecosystem, had been done to “distract from the substance of what I am saying.”
First, stop saying foolish things, lady. That helps ensure your main message isn't overlooked. Second, stop pretending to be shy in 2028. Whether it occurs or not, these trips simply underline that trait, especially given your national standing. Third, if you’re complaining about minor messaging issues like this, you might have a stroke when you run for president and aren’t happy with how your message or campaign is covered.
If this is the first baby steps toward an AOC candidacy in 2028, it’s not off to a good start.