Yes, she actually did that. 

Honestly, you could probably post your favorite AOC moment in the comments below, because there have been so many that we've likely forgotten most of them, but I can tell you that there's a real possibility that she can go from being a joke to a very real issue soon. 

On Thursday, my colleague Chase Jennings noted how AOC is the next Bernie Sanders, which is pretty accurate. The two have been paired up during the "Fighting Oligarchy" tour, which has Sanders and AOC rolling around the country proclaiming to fight for the people against King Trump. He speculated that there's a possibility that AOC is aiming for the White House at some point: 

OC is looking to take the reins of the socialist side of the party from Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT)—and it looks as if, at the moment, he’s happy to oblige. I would put a lot of money down betting that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez will run for president—I’m just not convinced it will be this time around, but she has her eyes on that prize eventually. 

According to Fox News, Jennings shares this opinion with Nate Silver, but Silver believes the timeline includes her running for POTUS in 2028: 

In a video posted to his "Silver Bulletin" website on Wednesday, Silver and political podcaster Galen Druke came up with draft picks for the Democratic Party’s next presidential nominee and settled on AOC being the strongest contender.

"My first pick of the first-round draft is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez," Druke said. 

"F--- you! That was going to be my f---ing first pick!," Silver responded, adding, "We both are on the AOC bus." Earlier, he said his first pick likely had at best a "20% chance" to be the nominee, indicating it was far from a confident prediction.

I agree that AOC is looking to achieve real leadership status within the Democrat Party, but I disagree on the position. I don't think she wants to be president; I think she wants to be head of the Democrat Party in the House, or possibly the Senate. AOC has, in the past, hinted that she fully intends to be in office in the future, and I think even her current actions are moves to achieve that goal. 

For instance, as Politico reports, AOC is attempting to create a coalition of Democrats who are loyal to her. This includes helping at-risk Democrats in their campaigns with funds, as well as DCCC money: 

“We always talk about winning coalitions, but that’s really what [she’s doing]. Like we’re looking at 2026, we have stuff that we want to get done. We’re not going to get it done unless we have the seats in the House,” said Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), a progressive who is close with the New York congresswoman.

And Ocasio-Cortez earlier this year neutralized a long-running criticism from other Democrats about the Squad — that they didn’t pay their dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee despite raking in huge sums in grassroots donations themselves — when she sent a check for the first time. She’s since sent in $260,000 to the DCCC, according to the most recent caucus report obtained by POLITICO, and raised or gave $54,000 to at-risk lawmakers. Connolly chipped in $190,000 to the DCCC, according to the report, and has raised and given $190,000 to purple-district members.

She also aimed to be the ranking Democrat on the oversight committee, a position she lost out to Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) on, and handily, but the move shows that she's attempting to rise within the ranks, and quickly. 

The thing is, with the ongoing shift in the Democrat Party to a more radicalized stance, AOC's popularity could easily catapult her to being the star of the whole show. Axios reports that multiple polls show her as the most popular member of the Democrat Party by a clear majority: 

• She already has a national brand separate from the 83-year-old Sanders, thanks in part to a massive social media following. Not including the accounts she has for her office, she has 9.1 million followers on Instagram, 12.7 million on X, and 4 million on TikTok. Sanders has 7.6 million Instagram followers.
• A recent YouGov poll found Ocasio-Cortez had a +61 approval rating among Democrats — the highest of any Democrat polled who hasn't run for president or vice president.
• A Yale University survey released last week found Ocasio-Cortez in second place in a hypothetical Democratic presidential primary — behind only former Vice President Kamala Harris.

To be president is to achieve power for possibly eight years at the most, but to be leader of the Democrat Party is to be in power for a possible lifetime. With the leadership of the Democrat Party soon up for grabs due to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer aging out, AOC has the opportunity to become the official head when they inevitably disappear. 

The Democrat Party's shift further to the left is AOC's window of opportunity, and judging by her recent moves, she's taking advantage of it for a real attempt soon. The question will be, will this invigorate the Democrat Party, or will it push it further into irrelevance as radicalism sweeps it and people decide they want nothing to do with it? 

My guess is the latter. The Democrat Party was soundly rejected in 2024 because it had adopted radicalized practices, and the answer to that was for members of the left to speculate that the reason they lost was that they didn't go left far enough. This kind of thing may appeal to middle and upper-class college students and former hippie boomers, but for the rest of the U.S., this is an immediate check on the "no" box. 

Still, a Democrat Party with AOC at the head could create some very real headaches for everyone, and not just the Republican Party. 

Brace yourself.