Republicans could be making a mistake in downplaying Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) effectiveness as one of the Democratic Party’s top political leaders.
Several polls and the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour across the country have cemented the congresswoman’s status as a dominant force in Democratic politics in recent months.
While the GOP has acknowledged Ocasio-Cortez’s prominence, it has often suggested she poses little threat to the MAGA movement’s momentum. Republicans have perceived her as a naive socialist pushing utopian ideas rather than a woman who could fuel the Democratic Party’s comeback.
But political experts said holding to that narrative and underestimating her capabilities could prove fatal for Republicans.
Ocasio-Cortez has many of the traits that Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, used to their advantage during the 2024 elections.
Those qualities include singular charisma and dynamic presentation skills that political experts said are comparable to Trump, the master communicator himself. They are combined with an impressive social media strategy designed to reach a wide swath of the electorate, particularly young people, a critical voting bloc that has been flocking to Republicans.
“I think one of the reasons Trump has been able to break through is people see him as authentic. He says what he says, what he thinks, off the cuff, and people appreciate that — right or wrong about his policy. And to a certain extent, you can say the same about AOC,” said Annelise Russell, a professor and expert on the intersection of social media and political institutions at the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Kentucky.
“She seems very natural. She goes on Instagram Live, and she goes on Twitch, and she meets young people, in particular, where they are, in a way that a lot of her Democratic colleagues and Republican colleagues are not,” added Maggie Macdonald, a political science professor at the University of Kentucky.
Ocasio-Cortez’s initial rise to power in 2019 saw her branded as the darling of progressive Democrats, and she painted herself proudly as a socialist who praised Green New Deal policies. But in recent years, she has made a critical messaging shift that could make Republicans’ attacks on her as a dangerous radical fall on deaf ears.
“It is possible that those sorts of attacks will put people off against the people making the attacks, rather than her,” Macdonald told the Washington Examiner. “She seems fine, like she doesn’t seem like the devil or anything.”
“I think her own party and the Republicans don’t really know how to deal with her, how to effectively critique her, because she is just nimbler than they are, particularly online,” she added.
Ocasio-Cortez’s positions on key issues may not have changed, but she has become more focused on promoting workers instead of pushing controversial ideological stances. That’s the same populist-style appeal that Trump used with spectacular results when he led the GOP in the 2024 elections.
“For AOC, as for Trump, they have managed to be successful by adopting populist approaches and an outsider perspective that is resonating with the public right now, at a time when people are so frustrated with politics and with politicians on both sides of the aisle,” said Dr. Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Northeastern University. “I do see some parallels there. You know, they both started off as outsiders, toppling establishment figures within their respective parties, and that emboldens them.”
Jake Dilemani, a political strategist with Mercury Public Affairs, also explained the two “semi-similarities” between the two political figures in comments to the Washington Examiner.
“One being their ability to kind of cut through the middleman of communication and go right to voters right through social media, predominantly. And secondly, they are both other populists, though on different sides of that spectrum, right?” he said. “And so I think voters are also drawn to that.”
But the GOP appears to be obsessed with targeting the Ocasio-Cortez of 2019. Experts warned that this tactic ignores the political reality that the Ocasio-Cortez of 2025 is waging a campaign that mirrors aspects of Trump’s populist-style winning strategy.
“For Republicans to portray her as some sort of, you know, neophyte, or, you know, the caricature of a lightweight progressive politician, is, I think, not smart on their behalf,” Dilemani said. “There has been a shift somewhat in her politics … which is to say she has made a concerted effort to build better relationships with the mainstream of the Democratic Party leadership over the last year or so.”
He argued that Ocasio-Cortez saw “the writing on the wall” when progressive Democrats in the House, such as former Reps. Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, lost their bids for reelection last year.
Dilemani suggested that while Republicans “would love to be able to hang around her neck some of the, frankly, worst elements of the far-left political positions” and are “salivating” for her to be the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party, Ocasio-Cortez may have outwitted them with her political shifts.
“She is a very astute politician,” he concluded.
Though she is increasingly viewed as a possible Democratic presidential candidate, the congresswoman has sidestepped questions about her future.
“This moment isn’t about campaigns, or elections, or about politics. It’s about making sure people are protected,” she said during a Fox News interview last month when pressed about plans for 2028.
Whatever she decides, Republicans are not yet assessing her as someone who could seriously challenge the MAGA movement.
“Republicans aren’t tired of winning, and apparently, Democrats aren’t tired of ‘losing,’” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said on Wednesday in response to a new poll that found Ocasio-Cortez gained more support as the “face of the Democratic Party” than any other candidate, which knocked former Vice President Kamala Harris out of first place.
“I consider congresswoman Cortez to be the leader of the Democratic Party,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) added last month. “I think she’s the reason there are directions on a shampoo bottle.”
Ocasio-Cortez has a “tiny little brain,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) mocked during an interview last November.
However much of a lightweight conservatives might perceive her to be, the New York congresswoman has built a powerful social media presence that makes her a formidable opponent to the GOP, seasoned political strategists said.
“People find her to be an energizing and alluring elected official, given her youth, given her vigor, given her message. She was and is still able to very, very astutely use social media to her benefit,” Dilemani said.
And her presentation comes off as authentic, experts suggested, which lends her particular influence in an arena that often poses a challenge to both parties.
The struggle was on full display in March when Democratic lawmakers were criticized for appearing inauthentic after posting identical scripted videos to social media.
“It’s kind of a trope that more senior politicians, you know, their staffers will put them in front of a vertical video, and you can tell that they don’t really know what’s happening, and they’re doing it, but they don’t really know why, or they’re not — they don’t feel natural or authentic in that space,” Macdonald said.
But Ocasio-Cortez, who could be found in 2019 tutoring Democratic House colleagues on using social media, is different, experts said. They describe her as someone who has reached “celebrity” status. Her personal Instagram account has over 9 million followers, compared to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) 39,000, Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s (R-SD) 3,000, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’s (D-NY) 68,000, and House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) 471,000.
“Her ability to build a reputation with her digital skills and to build digital constituencies is unparalleled. And that isn’t to say that no one else can do it, but it matches her reputation. It’s conveyed in her voice. It comes across as very authentic,” Russell said. “And in today’s digital climate, authenticity is key, and it’s one of the reasons she’s been able to be so successful.”
It’s the same ingredient that proved critical to pulling in votes for Trump in November, strategists argued, and it could fuel similar results for Ocasio-Cortez.
“They have different goals about what they’re trying to do, different people. But at the end of the day, they’re using the tools that are available to them to make their point. And they’re both very good messengers,” Macdonald said.
‘JD VANCE WILL BE THE NOMINEE IN 2028 – MARK MY WORDS’
Republicans would do well to reevaluate how they should tackle the challenge the congresswoman poses, experts concluded.
“I think Republicans are underestimating AOC likely at their own peril,” Panagopoulos warned.
!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“has-featured-video”,”true”)})}();var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({“div”:”Brid_2121951″,”obj”:{“id”:”27789″,”width”:”1280″,”height”:”720″,”stickyDirection”:”below”,”video”:”2121951″}});
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
