WASHINGTON — President Trump begrudgingly gave “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez somewhat backhanded praise when pressed to say something nice about her during a TV interview.
“Her philosophy’s so bad; she’s got a little spunk. She’s got a little something that’s good,” Trump said on the debut episode of Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.”
“[Former Rep.] Joe Crowley, she ran against him, and I said, ‘You know, Joe, you’re going to lose this thing unless you go out and campaign,” he continued. “She’s got a little something but her philosophy is bad for the country.”
Alluding to a recent Axios report about Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) eyeing the presidency or Senate in 2028, Trump chided, “I don’t think her philosophy can come close to winning.”
A darling of the socialist left, Ocasio-Cortez had been a breakout star during the 2018 blue wave election cycle, when she bested Crowley, then the No. 4 House Dem, in a primary for her Bronx and Queens-based seat.
At the time, she was working as a local bartender.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris praised the self-described Democratic socialists in her upcoming memoir, “107 Days,” for having a “joyful-warrior vibe” and resonating with working-class voters.
“The Sunday Briefing” co-anchor Peter Doocy noted how, in her book, Harris also described Trump as nice in person despite their bitter campaigns against one another.
Trump couldn’t recall ever meeting Ocasio-Cortez but suggested, “I’d be nice to AOC too.”
“I thought Kamala would’ve done a better job than she did in terms of running, because we really won by a lot,” the president chided. “But I was very nice.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met AOC, but I would be nice to her also. I’m basically a nice person. People just don’t know that.”
Both have been brutal toward each other in the past. Last year, a day after a bullet came within a quarter-inch of killing him during a rally in Butler, Pa., Ocasio-Cortez all but called him a fascist.
She’s also accused him of racism, xenophobia and more. In July, she called him a “rapist.”
Wow who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files?
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 11, 2025
Trump, in turn, has gone after her intelligence, bashing her as “one of the ‘dumbest’ people in Congress” and calling her “stupid.”
Ocasio-Cortez is widely believed to be weighing whether or not to run for the presidency in 2028 or mount a campaign for the Senate, something that could pit her against Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) if he decides to run for reelection.
AOC’s camp didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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