Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told ABC News she hasn’t “ruled out the possibility” of running for president in 2028. She also won’t rule out primarying Chuck Schumer. She is eyeing the prize she has always been eyeing — she’s just doing it while trying to quietly bury six years of her own documented record.
The revisionism is ambitious. She now says she doesn’t support abolishing police or prisons, defunding the Pentagon, or blanket amnesty. She laughed off “Woke 1” as a fever dream of COVID lockdown politics that nobody should be held accountable for — as if her radicalism began in 2020 and not in 2019, a full year before the pandemic.
WATCH:
? NEW: She’s running! AOC speaks out on a 2028 bid: “I haven't ruled out the possibility” pic.twitter.com/YDXorcsXQU
— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) August 9, 2026
The record says otherwise. She was calling for defunding police a full summer before COVID was a factor. When New York City proposed a $1 billion NYPD cut, her complaint was that it wasn’t enough: “Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math,” she said. “The fight to defund policing continues.”
She backed the New Way Forward Act, which would have decriminalized illegal entry, ended mandatory detention, and created a pathway for already-deported immigrants to return. She said she would get rid of the Department of Homeland Security altogether when asked. She wanted a national conversation about prison abolition. She said some marginalized groups “have no choice but to riot.”
None of this started in 2020. None of this was “COVID fever.” These were her stated positions, on camera, in her own voice, before the pandemic existed.
Her office won’t say whether she has actually changed her view on defunding the police or decriminalizing border crossings. It also didn’t answer the question about riots. So the “moderation” is mostly a change in language, not substance — which is exactly what every politician does when they start preparing to run for office in a country that doesn’t agree with their previous positions.
The political context around her is revealing. Hakeem Jeffries backed two New York City candidates in June primaries. Both lost to DSA-backed socialists endorsed by Mamdani. The crowd booed when Jeffries appeared on a victory party screen. AOC doesn’t need to win the establishment’s blessing. She just needs to wait while the establishment’s candidates keep losing.
Polls show her at 22% in the 2026 2028 Democratic field, beating Buttigieg. Data for Progress shows her beating Schumer 55-36 in a New York primary.
She is not a fringe candidate. She is the Democratic Party’s most likely 2028 nominee if things keep going the way they’re going.
Which is why every one of her deleted videos, abandoned positions, and convenient redefinitions matters. The internet doesn’t forget. Republicans shouldn’t either. She said “defunding police means defunding police.” The receipts exist. Make sure every voter sees them.
