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‘Squad’ member and Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is reportedly eyeing a potential 2028 presidential run as the Democratic Party finds its footing following President Donald Trump’s decisive win at the ballot box in 2024, according to a recent report.
Ocasio-Cortez’s team is preparing her to run for president or the U.S. Senate in 2028, when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is up for re-election and Democrats can next run to reclaim the White House, Axios reported Friday, citing sources familiar.
The New York congresswoman has not officially made a decision on a Senate or presidential run, but has hired former senior advisors from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ orbit as she navigates her political future, the outlet reported. She notably has joined Sanders on a national tour, called “Fighting Oligarchy,” in recent months that aims at combating Trump administration policies.
Fox News Digital reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s office for comment on the report she’s teeing up a 2028 run for higher office but did not receive a reply.
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Fox News Digital spoke to Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Shasti Conrad Thursday, ahead of Axios’ report on Ocasio-Cortez’s alleged 2028 aspirations, to discuss former Vice President Kamala Harris’ new book as well as top Democrats eyeing serving in higher offices.
Conrad, who is also the chair of Washington State’s Democratic Party, told Fox News Digital that the party needs “hundreds of leaders,” listing off names such as New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, to Ocasio-Cortez and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
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“We need Mamdani to Pete to Kamala to (Minnesota Gov. Tim) Walz to (California Gov.) Gavin Newsom … to (Kentucky Gov.) Andy Beshear to, you know, AOC,” she said. “We need messengers across this country talking about what Democrats stand for, what we will do when we get back in power, how we will make a difference in people’s lives.”
She added that these leaders must also bring attention to “what Trump is doing, calling that out every single day, holding the Republicans’ feet to the fire,” she added.
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Conrad argued that Harris’ book allows the former vice president to “speak her truth” on the 2024 campaign cycle, which included Harris reporting that she did not feel supported by the Biden team.
The book argued the Biden team rarely defended her from negative press, and called Biden’s decision to run for reelection at the age of 81 as an example of “recklessness.”
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“’It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.’ We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized,” Harris wrote in the book, according to the excerpts. “Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision.”
The excerpts set off condemnation from former White House staffers who told Axios that Harris was allegedly trying to scapegoat Biden instead of owning up that she “was simply not good at the job.”
Democrats are now jockeying to lead the party in the Trump era. Conrad said the book tees up Harris potentially running for president again in 2028, or a potential Buttigieg run, while also celebrating that other high-profile names could step up.
“This is the thing that happens when you don’t have the White House, the presidency, is that there isn’t one leader of the Democrats,” she said. “We need, you know, hundreds of leaders.”
The report of Ocasio-Cortez’s potential comes as the Democratic Party maps out its future following Trump’s November 2024 election win.
Harris is launching a book tour after her memoir reflecting on her 107-day presidential campaign was released Tuesday.
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