New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said her ambitions go beyond the presidency, but her response is only fueling speculation that she could be eyeing a presidential run in 2028.
The progressive Democrat has made several high-profile appearances in recent days, weighing in on topics ranging from billionaires to voting rights to Marjorie Taylor Greene.
‘My ambition is way bigger than that’
Ocasio-Cortez faced questions about a potential presidential run while speaking Friday at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics.
She was asked by Democratic strategist David Axelrod — who served as the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns — about the possibility of running for president or the U.S. Senate in 2028.
“They assume that my ambition is positional. They assume that my ambition is a title or a seat,” Ocasio-Cortez said of those speculating about her political future and those who may attempt to discourage her from seeking higher office.
“My ambition is way bigger than that. My ambition is to change this country.”
The New York congresswoman elaborated further.
“Presidents come and go, senate, house seat, elected officials come and go, but single-payer healthcare is forever. A living wage is forever. Worker’s rights are forever, women’s rights, all of that.”
Ocasio-Cortez doubles down on criticism of billionaires
At other points during her Chicago appearance, Ocasio-Cortez reiterated her stance against extreme wealth concentration and the political influence of billionaires such as Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.
Ocasio-Cortez again expressed her belief that no one can truly “earn” a billion dollars.
“American inequality is at an absolute peak,” she said, “and we have to ask ourselves if this is how we want to live as a society, if we want 3,400 people to be prioritized over well over 300 million.”
She also addressed her former congressional colleague, Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently resigned from Congress amid a public break with President Donald Trump over issues including the Epstein files and support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
While some Democrats have expressed openness to embracing Greene’s apparent split from the MAGA movement, Ocasio-Cortez pushed back on that idea.
“I personally do not trust someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene, a proven bigot, an antisemite, on the issue of what is good for Gazans and Israelis,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“I don’t think that it benefits our movement in that instance to align the left with white nationalists.”
‘We are not going back’
Ocasio-Cortez followed up her Chicago appearance with a Sunday stop in Atlanta, where she was hosted by Sen. Raphael Warnock at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Speaking to the congregation on Mother’s Day, Ocasio-Cortez criticized the recent Supreme Court decision that weakened parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, pointing to ongoing redistricting efforts that she argued are being used “to literally draw Black Americans out of power.”
Evoking figures such as the biblical judge Deborah and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who once co-pastored Ebenezer, Ocasio-Cortez delivered a message centered on unity and political participation.
“I’m here today, brothers and sisters, with a simple message: we stand together and we are not going back,” she said.
She added, “What happens to Georgia happens to New York. What happens to Tennessee happens to California. What happens to Louisiana happens to all of us.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance at the historic Black church in Georgia has further intensified speculation about a possible presidential run.
As her name continues to surface alongside other potential Democratic contenders for 2028, Ocasio-Cortez appears to be using her growing national platform to highlight the issues she believes most affect everyday Americans from New York to Georgia and beyond.