Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the outspoken member of the so-called “Squad,” recently addressed the swirling rumors surrounding her supposed pregnancy, while taking the opportunity to unleash a scathing critique of Republicans and tech mogul Elon Musk.
Ocasio-Cortez, known for her fiery rhetoric and bold social media presence, had a humorous response to the pregnancy rumors that flooded social media after a member of Congress, whom she described as a Republican, asked her if she was expecting. With her signature confidence, AOC quickly shot down the rumors, attributing her glowing appearance not to a baby bump but to the effects of a Thanksgiving feast. “Everyone keeps asking me if I’m pregnant. Actually, a member, a Republican, came to me on the floor this week and asked me if I was pregnant,” she said in an Instagram story. “I’m not pregnant, guys. I had a lot of food at Thanksgiving, okay. It happens.”
The congresswoman’s playful comment was a welcome moment of levity in an otherwise tense week where she had been making headlines for her sharp commentary on the current political landscape, particularly regarding the influence of tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Ocasio-Cortez has made no secret of her disdain for Musk, especially after his outspoken opposition to a massive 1,500-page spending bill that critics argue is packed with left-wing priorities. The bill, which contained hefty allocations for progressive causes, was a clear point of contention between the two camps.
In a Twitter post, Ocasio-Cortez took aim at the bill and the political establishment, suggesting that the real issue wasn’t the bill itself but the way politicians bend to the whims of billionaires like Musk. “How about the House add campaign finance reform to the CR so Republicans and Democrats alike can stop being so scared about what a billionaire man-child thinks before they vote on anything around here,” she tweeted. “They’re cutting healthcare to kids because Elon gets his money from Defense contracts, so they’ll never touch the military budget.”
The New York Democrat’s post was another salvo in her ongoing battle with the political right, but it was far from the only jab she threw. In yet another social media post, AOC claimed Republicans were using the looming threat of a government shutdown to push through massive tax cuts for the wealthy while simultaneously cutting Social Security and Medicare. “Republicans are trying to shut down the government because they want to set up massive tax cuts for the rich next year while cutting Social Security and Medicare. They know Americans don’t support that, so they’re holding the entire government hostage to try to force it,” she lamented.
As if her remarks about Republicans weren’t fiery enough, AOC then targeted Musk once again, accusing the billionaire of manipulating the public through his control of the X algorithm, formerly known as Twitter. “Real power is in everyday people. And if you can control the algorithms of what they see, if you can control the narratives of what they believe through propaganda, through artificial amplification, which is what Elon does—he sets his tweets to be the most retweeted, etc.—then you can control them, so we’re gonna have to read a lot,” she said in a video post, warning her followers to be vigilant about Musk’s influence.
The congresswoman’s comments sparked a flurry of reactions from social media users, with many pointing out the irony in her remarks. “AOC just confirmed that this is what the Democrats have been doing for years. She’s panicking because they no longer have that stronghold on us,” one user commented. Another wrote, “AOC is big mad that we are beating Democrats at their own game, which they’ve been doing for decades.”
As AOC continues to fight her political battles on social media, it’s clear that she’s not backing down from her progressive agenda—nor from using every opportunity to take shots at her political adversaries, both on the right and in Silicon Valley. While her pregnancy rumors may have been debunked, her fight for political dominance shows no signs of slowing down.