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Some of President Donald Trump‘s top Democratic critics who may run for the White House in 2028 used appearances at a high-profile European conference this past weekend to blast the Republican president’s agenda and try to beef up their foreign policy chops.
But for some of these Democrats with national ambitions, the international stop at the prestigious Munich Security Conference may have backfired.
Meanwhile, a highly anticipated address by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who may be on the GOP’s 2028 ticket, won positive reviews for his charm offensive with European allies bruised by Trump’s aggressive second-term moves towards some of America’s oldest and closest allies.
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Eight Democrats considered potential 2028 contenders — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo — all descended on Munich.
“I think they hurt themselves badly,” Hugh Hewitt, the popular conservative radio talk show host and Fox News contributor, said of the Democrats during an appearance on “Fox and Friends.”
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But it was Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive champion who has long been laser focused on affordability and other domestic issues, who scored the worst reviews.
“We are seeing our presidential administration tear apart the transatlantic partnership, rip up every democratic norm,” Ocasio-Cortez said as she took aim at Trump. “I think many of us are here to say we are here, and we are ready for the next chapter, not to have the world turn to isolation, but to deepen our partnership … and increase our commitment to integrity to our values.”
But Ocasio-Cortez was heavily criticized for her gaffe when asked during a panel discussion whether the U.S. should send troops to defend Taiwan from a possible invasion by China.
The four-term lawmaker appeared to stall for nearly 20 seconds before offering that the U.S. should try to avoid reaching a clash with China over Taiwan.
“AOC is like a parade of clichés. A model U.N. student that didn’t get enough sleep,” Hewitt argued.
Social media posts by others on the right weren’t as kind, slamming her for offering up a world salad.
But it wasn’t just Republicans who critiqued Ocasio-Cortez.
A veteran Democratic strategist who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News Digital, “it is abundantly clear that AOC is not ready for prime time given her remarks in Europe.”
Whitmer, the term-limited governor of the key Great Lakes battleground state, was also criticized.
Asked what victory would look like for Ukraine, Whitmer said Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, who were sitting with her on the panel, were “much more steeped in foreign policy than a governor is.”
“Ukraine’s independence, keeping their land mass and having the support of all of the allies, I think, is the goal,” Whitmer added.
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Newsom repeatedly took aim at the president during his appearances.
“Donald Trump is temporary,” he said Friday during a climate change discussion. “He’ll be gone in three years.” And he hammered Trump over climate policy, arguing the president is “doubling down on stupid.”
“Never in the history of the United States of America has there been a more destructive president than the current occupant of the White House in Washington, D.C.,” Newsom charged. “Donald Trump is trying to turn back the clock.”
Matt Mowers, a longtime Republican strategist and State Department veteran during Trump’s first administration who later was a 2020 GOP congressional nominee in swing state New Hampshire, gave the Democrats low scores.
“What we saw on the Democratic side were a bunch of folks who were not ready for prime time,” Mowers told Fox News Digital. “I think the American people are going to look at the circus group that showed up there and wonder if they can trust any of them to be in a position of power and lead America forward.”
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But longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo, pointing to the Democrats at the conference, told Fox News Digital that “speaking in Munich serves to bolster their foreign affairs credentials, especially under the backdrop of the looming 2028 presidential campaign.”
“It’s unclear which strategy is going to work, but I think regardless of who is successful, they will need a clear and cogent foreign policy to return our position at the global table,” Caiazzo said.
Rubio’s speech came a year after Vice President JD Vance, the perceived 2028 Republican front-runner, delivered a scathing attack on Europe during his 2025 speech at the security forum.
America’s top diplomat, speaking a month after Trump took a sledgehammer to Europe during remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was applauded for saying “in a time of headlines heralding the end of the trans-Atlantic era, let it be known and clear to all that this is neither our goal nor our wish, because for us Americans, our home may be in the Western Hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.”
Striving to ease tensions fueled by Trump’s push to take control of Greenland and the president’s threats of further tariffs on European nations, Rubio emphasized that “the United States and Europe, we belong together.”
But while softer in tone, Rubio’s underlying message was as uncompromising as those of Trump and Vance, that Europe needed to join America’s new reshaped vision for the world, or get out of the way.
And Rubio strongly criticized European nations over their immigration and climate agenda, and slammed the United Nations, saying the world body “played virtually no role” in peace efforts in Ukraine and Gaza.
Pointing to what he called “the dynamic duo of JD Vance’s speech last year and Marco Rubio’s speech this year,” Mowers said, “You needed more of a wrecking ball last year to wake everyone up.”
And he said this year, “You have someone who can try to bring together more unity based upon a shared framework. But I think the two of them together have done a great job at really explaining what a U.S.-European relationship can look like for the 21st century.”
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