AOC rallies thousands in red America by blasting 'criminal' Trump
Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York headlined a “Fight Oligarchy” rally with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in one of the reddest states in the country on Monday night, attracting thousands of people.
The event attracted at least 12,500 people to the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho, according to organizers. Idaho was the third-strongest state for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, where he won 66.9% of the vote to Democrat Kamala Harris’ 30.4%. Canyon County, where the Ocasio-Cortez/Sanders event was held, was even redder, with Trump winning 72.0% of the vote there.
But Ocasio-Cortez’s message received a raucous reception in the heart of Trump country.
“Donald Trump is a criminal who was found guilty of 34 felony counts of fraud. Liable for sexual abuse. Of course, he’s lying and abusing and manipulating the stock market too,” she said. “When he talks about rapists and criminals, he should look in the mirror.”
She criticized the influence of corporate money over political votes, noting that too many politicians receive campaign donations “tied up in pharmaceutical, oil and gas, or defense company stocks.”
Ocasio-Cortez singled out Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for her recent purchases of stocks after the market took a hit from Trump’s tariff announcements and her profiteering after Trump retreated on the issue.
“How much did you make off of people’s despair? How much did you make off that panic? How much did you make off of that suffering?” she asked, accusing Trump of manipulating the market for his friends.
The congresswoman also called out Trump for abducting dissenters and sending them to nations like El Salvador while musing about expanding those abuses to Americans.
“Today, we just saw President Trump express openness to taking U.S. citizens and sending them off, without due process, to foreign prisons. It’s anti-American,” she said.
The rally was another sign that as Republicans continue to hide from the public, refusing to face the backlash from months of hostile actions from Trump and co-President Elon Musk, Democrats and progressives are listening to them.
Ocasio-Cortez has emerged as a leader for Democrats, even as many voters have soured on the party for insufficient opposition to Trump.
In a poll released on Sunday by CNN/SSRS, while only 29% of Americans expressed a favorable opinion of Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez was the leader whom most Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said reflects the core values of the party. She was ahead of other notable figures like former President Barack Obama, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and even recent Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
Top Trump administration figures like immigration “czar” Tom Homan have in recent months pushed for Ocasio-Cortez to be silent and stop voicing opposition to Trump. As thousands in Idaho have now witnessed, she isn’t backing down.
Campaign Action