Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is stepping into the Democrats’ leadership void, picking up her powerful megaphone to channel the base’s anger — toward both President Donald Trump and her own party.
Some of the initial skepticism in the party around the progressive star when she first arrived in Washington six years ago has started to fade as she has established herself as a political player on Capitol Hill and demonstrated a unique knack for communicating with a younger generation.
As Democrats scramble to find an authentic and effective messenger for the second Trump administration, there is a growing desire to elevate Ocasio-Cortez, 35, within the party in some way, according to interviews with a dozen Democratic lawmakers, aides and strategists — especially after last week’s government spending showdown left the base enraged.
Ocasio-Cortez was one of the most outspoken Democrats in torching Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for allowing a Republican funding bill to advance in the Senate to avoid a shutdown. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif, publicly urged Ocasio-Cortez to launch a primary challenge against Schumer in 2028 if he runs for re-election, and several House Democrats told NBC News that her colleagues also privately pushed her to do so at a party retreat last week.
Starting Thursday, she is set to take her message on the road with a fellow progressive heavyweight, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has also been critical of current Democratic leadership. The pair will hold a series of rallies in swing districts and on college campuses in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado that are expected to draw massive crowds, sparking inevitable questions about her considering a run for higher office — perhaps even president in 2028.
“She would walk into any event in America and draw a significant crowd,” said Faiz Shakir, a political adviser to Sanders. “Whether they like her or not it doesn’t even matter. There are people interested in what she has to say.”
Some of her Democratic colleagues once viewed Ocasio-Cortez as an attention seeker who was more interested in social media stardom than substantive policy. Others believed she fell into the job only accidentally after her upset primary win at age 28 and were skeptical she would be around for long.
But now Democrats across the ideological spectrum are starting to recognize that Ocasio-Cortez can grab the spotlight in a way that few others in the party can.
“She’s got boundless promise as the party leader in our country. But the question is who will have the language to express to America where we need to go,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. “That’s a tall order for anybody, but I would say she’s definitely a contender. I don’t know that anybody else seems to be a more obvious young candidate for that position.”
There are still plenty of reservations among Democrats about Ocasio-Cortez’s becoming the face of the party. She is a frequent target of conservatives, who portray her as an out-of-touch extremist and often use her as a villain in campaign ads and fundraising efforts.
“Her politics are just too far left for this party,” a chair of a state party that sends a large number of delegates to Democratic presidential conventions, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said of Ocasio-Cortez as a potential national candidate. “I don’t agree with most of her policy positions, but she’s showing fight, which a lot of people are looking for their members of Congress to do, and they’re just not seeing it.”
Still, her ability to connect with the public is something her Democratic colleagues are starting to embrace. Recently, she conducted a presentation for her colleagues on how to reach influencers and use social media. She showed House Democrats a video she produced around the theme “What’s in my bag?” in which she also discussed politics and policy. A Democratic lawmaker recalled the video got more than 2 million views.
“Two million people, right?” said a lawmaker who listened to the presentation. “If you added all of mine up together and multiplied them by 10, I wouldn’t get to 2 million.”
A moderate House Democrat told NBC News that, despite not being a “big supporter” of Ocasio-Cortez, they privately voted for her to be the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee when she unsuccessfully ran for the post last year. The moderate Democratic lawmaker said the reason is that “she is one of the top-tier communicators” in the party and the Oversight Committee job is primarily a “messaging and marketing” role.
But the lawmaker didn’t wish to reveal the vote publicly, a sign there is still wariness about how Ocasio-Cortez might appeal to more centrist and independent voters.
Ocasio-Cortez ultimately landed a spot on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which deals with a host of issues she cares about related to climate change and income inequality. Her evolution from an outside agitator to an inside player in the party has fueled widespread speculation among Democrats about her political ambitions.
Ocasio-Cortez isn’t entertaining the idea of seeking higher office. Her closest advisers reject the premise that Sanders is handing the baton to her as the titular leader of the progressive movement. They also insist she isn’t plotting to challenge Schumer for his Senate seat in 2028, mount a run for governor of New York in 2026 or start organizing a bid for the White House. But they also aren’t ruling anything out.
Ocasio-Cortez declined a request for an interview.
“There is no 10-year plan,” said a close Ocasio-Cortez adviser, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal planning. “She is going to be who she is. She is the last person to think about how a decision is going to impact her down the road, which candidly can be a little frustrating to those of us who are advising her.”
“She can move quickly and authentically in a way few other elected leaders can,” the adviser added. “If she jumps into anything, it will be because she truly believes she can make real change.”
Many Democratic leaders said Ocasio-Cortez should keep all potential opportunities open.
“I think AOC has a massive future in front of her, and that’s a decision that she’s going to make. I mean, obviously you see lots of conversation about her running for Senate, her running for president. I think all of those options, if I was her campaign manager, are probably going to be on the table,” said Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee’s association of state party chairs.
In the short term, her colleagues in the House believe her best play is to keep her focus on the job at hand.
“She has matured and evolved as a political leader in remarkable ways,” Raskin said. “She has gone from being a huge outside force to being a huge inside force.”