Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a big announcement at a Democratic strategy breakfast this week. Her colleagues thought it was a bit.
The New York congresswoman stood up during the closed-door meeting and nominated herself for Speaker of the House. Almost the whole room thought she was joking and burst out laughing.
“We honestly thought it was in jest,” said Rep. Alex Bruno (D-NY). “She wouldn’t get 30 votes.”
The breakfast was meant to be a low-key session about strategy and messaging. Members had gathered early in the morning at a hotel conference room, plates of eggs and fruit in front of them, when AOC asked for a few minutes to speak.
She started with a broad message about where the party is headed. Then she got specific. She said the country is moving away from “The Old Guard,” and that Democrats should accept it and give her the top spot now.
“There was this pause,” one person in the room said. “Then someone in the back laughed, and that was it. Everybody lost it.” The laughter died down once people realized she wasn’t smiling.
Ocasio-Cortez has been a star of the progressive movement since her surprise win in 2018. She commands a massive social media following and is a regular target of Republican attacks. But inside the Democratic caucus, she has never been a favorite of leadership, and many members see her as more interested in headlines than in building coalitions.
Bruno, a moderate who represents a suburban New York district, said the idea of her as Speaker was simply unrealistic.
“I don’t know what she’s been smoking, but she should stop,” said Alex. He said he thinks the party needs steady leadership that can appeal to swing voters, not someone who would “turn every vote into a hashtag.”
Other members were gentler in public, but several admitted privately that they found the moment uncomfortable. One said it felt “like watching a college freshman run for student body president at a faculty meeting.”
AOC’s allies weren’t amused. Progressive activists said the reaction showed that party leaders still don’t take younger members seriously. Some argued that the laughter itself would make a great campaign ad.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office said in a statement that she believes Democrats “need a new generation of leadership” and that she is “proud to say out loud what others are afraid to.” The statement did not say whether she intends to run for the post.
The breakfast moved on to other topics after that, according to people who were there. The mood, they said, never quite recovered.
Tough crowd.
