While speaking with former Obama adviser David Axelrod on Friday, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) answered questions about her potential presidential ambitions ahead of the 2028 election.
Axelrod asked the congresswoman directly whether she had considered a bid for the presidency in 2028 or a challenge to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in the 2028 primary. The congresswoman has long been linked to both potential races, as she has frequently criticized Schumer’s leadership and is seen as a national leader of the Democratic Party’s far-left wing.
Ocasio-Cortez responded with a vague answer in which she refused to commit to either outcome and instead redirected the question.
“My ambition is to change this country. Presidents come and go. Senate, House seats, elected officials come and go. But single-payer healthcare is forever. A living wage is forever, workers’ rights are forever, women’s rights, all of that,” she said.
She added that she does not want potential future campaigns to shape her current work in Congress. “I want to make decisions from a place of how are we going to change the country,” the congresswoman added. “When you aren’t attached, right, when you haven’t been like fantasizing about being this or that since the time you were seven-years-old, it is tremendously liberating.”
Ocasio-Cortez has long been viewed as a key player in the Democratic Party’s future direction. The congresswoman has collaborated with Independent Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on recent campaigns, and Sanders previously described her capabilities in an Axios interview by stating she is “a very, very good politician” and that she “would” be a formidable presidential candidate if she chose to run.
One recent poll from Quantus Insights found Ocasio-Cortez receiving 14 percent of the vote in a hypothetical 2028 primary race against a number of contenders, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom and others.
As of this report, the Democratic Party primary race for president in 2028 remains in its earliest stages. No major Democratic figures have formally announced candidacies, while polling has indicated that former Vice President Kamala Harris continues to lead in hypothetical primary matchups.
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