Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put her own name up for Speaker at a Democrat strategy breakfast this week. Almost the whole room thought she was joking and burst out laughing.
The private breakfast, held at a hotel near Capitol Hill, was supposed to be a quiet planning session about the party’s message heading into next year. Lawmakers were working through coffee and eggs when the New York congresswoman stood up to speak.
According to several people in the room, she talked about the future of the party for a few minutes, then made her pitch. She said Democrats should stop waiting and name her their pick for Speaker.
The laughter started almost immediately. “We honestly thought it was in jest,” said Rep. Alex Bruno (D-NY). “She wouldn’t get 30 votes.” AOC, it turns out, wasn’t kidding.
She told the room that the country is moving away from “The Old Guard,” and that the party should just accept it and give her the top spot now rather than later. She said younger voters are tired of the same faces and that Democrats need someone who can fire up the base.
“She was dead serious,” one attendee said. “That’s what made it so awkward. People were still chuckling, and she’s standing there like, ‘I’m waiting.'”
Ocasio-Cortez has been one of the most famous Democrats in the country since she won her seat in 2018. She has a huge following online and has become a leading voice of the party’s progressive wing. But she has also clashed with party leaders more than once, and many of her colleagues have never warmed to her style.
Bruno, a fellow New Yorker, didn’t bother hiding his opinion. “I don’t know what she’s been smoking, but she should stop,” said Alex.
The congressman said he respects her energy but thinks she has a long way to go before her colleagues would trust her with the gavel. He said the party needs to win back moderate voters, not double down on what he called “the loudest corner of Twitter.”
Others in the room were more polite but just as skeptical. One senior member said privately that the idea “didn’t make it past the hash browns.”
AOC’s supporters were quick to defend her online. Progressive groups said the reaction proved exactly her point, that party insiders are out of touch and afraid of change. Some called the laughter disrespectful.
Her office later released a short statement saying she “has always believed in bold leadership” and would “keep pushing the party forward.” It did not say whether she plans to formally seek the job.
For now, the breakfast is over, the coffee is cold, and the Speaker idea seems to have gone nowhere.
Tough crowd.