Ocasio-Cortez Criticizes Democrats for Being Too ‘Reflexively Anti-Republican’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic representative from New York, made an unexpected statement about working with congressional Republicans that sparked widespread attention.
Ocasio-Cortez, aligning with a growing faction of Democrats open to cooperating with President-elect Donald Trump during his second term, expressed her willingness to support policies that resonate with her principles. Speaking to Punchbowl News on Wednesday, she said she would back Trump’s initiatives if they align with her vision.
“The reason why I think oftentimes Democrats occasionally lose elections is because we’re too reflexively anti-Republican, and that we don’t lean into an ambitious vision for working-class Americans strongly enough,” Ocasio-Cortez explained to the outlet.
In recent election cycles, Democrats have been more focused on cultural shifts—such as gender, diversity, and climate change—rather than fully addressing “kitchen table issues” like rising food prices, gas costs, and housing expenses.
According to Punchbowl News, many Democrats are now moving away from the resistance-style strategies used during Trump’s first term. Instead, they are exploring areas of potential bipartisan collaboration, such as border security, reducing government waste, and economic reforms.
“I don’t think the American people want extremism, but they do want changes at the border,” Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz told the publication.
Moskowitz acknowledged that the party’s electoral losses highlighted a gap between Democratic policies and voter priorities, particularly on immigration. “On some of these issues, we were to the left of the American people,” he admitted.
The shift was evident in the passage of the Laken Riley Act, an immigration reform bill approved in the House with 48 Democrats supporting it—11 more than in the previous Congress.
“We should pursue every opportunity around border security and immigration reform,” said Ohio Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, who supported the bill. He emphasized, “That’s number one, and number two is getting costs down.”
In another instance of bipartisan cooperation, 60 Democrats joined Republicans to pass the Preventing Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act, introduced by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace. The legislation passed with a vote of 274-145, with more than a quarter of the minority party backing it.
“We are fed up with headlines about women losing their lives or becoming victims of assailants who trespassed into our country illegally under the Biden-Harris border crisis,” Mace declared. “This legislation sends a strong message: if you are an illegal who has committed acts of violence against women, you will not find sanctuary here.”
However, 158 Democrats opposed the bill, arguing it unfairly targeted immigrants.
“Here we are again, debating another partisan bill that fearmongers about immigrants instead of working together to fix the immigration system,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) during the debate. “I probably shouldn’t be too surprised. Scapegoating immigrants and attempting to weaponize the crime of domestic violence is appearing to be a time-honored tradition for Republicans.”
Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York also voiced criticism, stating, “The redundancies in this bill all but assure that no additional dangerous individuals would face immigration consequences if it were to become law.”
Despite the opposition, Mace stood firm in her position. “Our country has been ravaged by a horror of illegal immigrants…violently raping American women and girls,” she said. “I know the lifelong scars, the irreversible scars, these heinous crimes leave behind.”