Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York's far-left “sectarian” revealed some of the surprising reactions she got from people who voted for President-elect Donald Trump and her or other Democrats who voted against him. .
The Bronx and Queens Democrat was easily reelected Tuesday. quizzed she 8 million followers on Instagram Pollsters and Democratic Party officials alike were stunned and wanted to know more about Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris's landslide loss to the Republican former president.
Reflecting on the massive shift toward Republicans among non-college-educated voters since 2016, one respondent wrote, “It's very simple… Mr. Trump, and you're talking about the working class.'' I'm concerned about that,” he said.
Another person wrote:[W]Anticipating change, I chose Mr. Trump and Mr. Blue for the remaining votes to give me a break. ”
A third respondent explained the trade-off between split voting and Democratic partisan voting.
“Action and Progress >> Stagnation and Excuses,” the person wrote. “We both push boundaries and encourage growth.”
Another writer said, “I voted for Trump, but I like you and Bernie. I don't trust establishment politicians of either party.”
“If either party wants to make a clean sweep, they have to figure out a way to get the truth out of it,” a senior Democratic aide told the Post when asked about AOC’s unofficial findings on Capitol Hill.
“That's who wins. Trump is the real deal. Harris was grown in a lab. People can see that,” the source said.
Socialist Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, R-Vermont, was one of the first progressives to propose a postmortem to the Democratic Party.
“It's not really surprising that the Democratic Party, which has abandoned working-class people, now realizes that the working class has abandoned them,” said Sanders, who caucuses with the Democratic Party.
AOC's 14th District went to President-elect Trump by the widest margin of any Big Apple electorate.
In 2020, nearly four in five voters (77%) voted for Joe Biden, while 22% voted for Trump. But according to city voting records reported by the Daily Kos show, only 65% of voters voted for Harris in 2024, while 33% voted for Trump.
In 2018, Ocasio-Cortez, now a close ally of Sanders, said that while Trump was in office, he delivered a “message focused on economic, social and racial dignity for working-class Americans.” He said he won the election by persevering.
Both members of the House and Senate still support Harris in 2024, but are undecided.
The day after the 2024 election, Democratic Party officials leaked to the Post that Harris' policies depended heavily on elite donors, and that in the final weeks, that message had shifted to President Trump, 78. ) as a “fascist” threat to American democracy.
This completely ignored voters' concerns about inflation, unchecked immigration, and other working-class concerns.
Harris, 60, has also spoken out about many of her previous progressive positions, including banning oil and gas fracking, decriminalizing illegal border crossings and approving gender reassignment surgeries for incarcerated immigrants. He was unable to reverse or clarify his position.
Post-election research by the Democratic firm Blueprint shows: Top 3 reasons why the vice president lost For Trump, the problems include rising inflation, too many immigrants coming into the country, and Democratic candidates being too fixated on “cultural issues like transgender issues rather than helping the middle class.” Ta.
“She wanted more rights at the time. [sic] I was thinking about the economy and when she got mad and talked about it, she didn't have a plan,” an Instagram respondent told AOC.
A senior Democratic congressional aide told the Post that miscommunication made it easier for Trump to defeat Harris.
“Democrats composed and also conducted Donald Trump's symphony,” the source said. “All he had to do was take a bow.”
Other failures of the Harris campaign include that she pandered too much to suburban women and not enough to Black, Hispanic, Asian and Gen Z voters, polling data confirmed.
Like many members of her party, Ocasio-Cortez, 35, said Trump's electoral and popular vote victories were backed by the largest multiracial coalition won by a Republican presidential candidate in decades. was defiant in the face.
“This is going to be a very, very, very, very difficult time for millions of people in this country,” AOC gingerly posted on Instagram from her all-white kitchen after the election. did. “These are going to be very scary times.”
“I'm not here to superficially explain what we're about to go through,” she added. “This is a big setback because the fascists had the support of a lot of the working class. This has happened in history.”
But Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he was ready to abandon all of Democrats' failing claims, saying the party's tent had become “too small.”
“A decisive break with neoliberalism. Listen to the voices of the poor, rural people, those at risk. Don’t decide for them. Pick a fight. Embrace populism. We're building a big tent. Don't judge too much,” Murphy posted on X on Sunday. “We are beyond small fixes.”
Still, some AOC supporters apparently rejected Harris because she didn't lean far enough to the left, especially regarding Israel's war in the Gaza Strip.
“I know people who [split their vote between Trump and the Dems] It was B.C. in Gaza,” someone said. Reply to AOC on Instagram.
Another said: “I voted for Trump and you, not the genocidal Harris. Democrats need Bernie!!”
A third respondent said:[V]”I voted for Mr. Trump in Arizona, but I voted for Ruben, not Kari Lake,” he said as of Monday morning, referring to Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego and his Republican opponent Kari Lake. Although the election campaign had not yet been announced, it was reported that Gallego was in the lead.
“He handles war well,” the official added, apparently referring to Mr. Trump.
A fourth person echoed the arguments made by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. when he abandoned his candidacy and endorsed Mr. Trump.
“He talks about war as a bad thing,” respondents said of the 45th and soon-to-be 47th president. “The Democratic Party has become the party of war.”
Representatives for AOC's congressional office and campaign did not immediately respond to The Post's requests for comment.
