Democrat Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked her Instagram followers why they voted for her in New York’s 14th congressional district but for Donald Trump in the presidential election. “Let’s do this right now. If you voted for Donald Trump and me, or if you voted for Donald Trump and voted Democratic down-ballot, I would really love to hear from you,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a Q&A on her Instagram story. Then she posted some of the responses with the caption: “I’m listening”.
“I know ppl that did this and it was bc of Gaza,” one responded. “I support you and did this. Felt like I didn’t have a choice after Biden’s administration,” another response read. Other responses included: “Voted for trump and you, not genocide Harris. Dems need bernie!!”; “He speaks of war as something that is bad. Democrats became the party that supports war”; “It’s real simple…trump and you care for the working class”; “I feel like Trump and you are both real”; “Voted Trump, but I like you & Bernie. I don’t trust either party establishment politicians”; “I feel that you both are outsiders compared to the rest of DC, and less ‘establishment'”.
AOC was easily re-elected Tuesday but her district swung to Trump in the presidential polls by one of the highest margins. In 2020, 77 per cent voted for Joe Biden and 22 per cent for Trump but in 2024, just 65 per cent voted for Harris and 33 per cent voted for Trump, according to city voting records.
A close ally of Bernie Sanders, AOC in 2018 said she had won the election while Trump was in office by sticking to “a laser-focused message of economic, social and racial dignity for working-class Americans”.
AOC said social media apps like Instagram and X are influenced by the billionaires who own them. “If you’re only tuning in to those mediums, you will think that most people fall along this spectrum,” she said. “And a lot of people don’t, and that’s why it’s important to be at the doors, and that’s why it’s important to be on the phones, and that’s why it’s never just like a little junior thing that you grow out of, but that we always need to be listening, because you will learn a lot.”
