AOC asked voters why they backed her candidacy and Trump’s reelection. They said the economy and Gaza.

• AOC during a recent Instagram Q&A asked voters why they backed her candidacy and Trump’s reelection.
• The responses were candid, and many pointed to the economy and the conflict in Gaza.
• Ocasio-Cortez strongly backed Harris and stumped for the vice president during the 2024 campaign.

Similar to Democrats across the country reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ election loss, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has spent time thinking about the ramifications of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Ocasio-Cortez, a strong backer of Harris and one of the most progressive voices in the US House of Representatives, took to Instagram this past weekend where she argued that “most people” aren’t ready for the president-elect in office again. During her conversation, she highlighted Trump’s pledge to initiate mass deportations as well as his tariff threats.

But then Ocasio-Cortez opened up the floor to voters who either backed her reelection in New York’s 14th Congressional District and Trump’s candidacy or down-ballot Democrats in other states as well as Trump — and voters poured out their thoughts on the election.

Many voters who split their tickets between Ocasio-Cortez and Trump or other Democratic candidates and Trump pointed to two key issues: the economy and the conflict in Gaza.

Harris crafted an economic message that she believed would differentiate herself from President Joe Biden, who stepped aside as the presumptive Democratic nominee in July. And the vice president sought to reassure voters concerned over the Israel-Hamas war and the plight of Palestinians that she would work to secure peace in the region as president.

But she wasn’t able to counter Trump’s electoral performance.

As Ocasio-Cortez’s Instagram question-and-answer session showed, a slew of voters registered their general frustration by not supporting Harris.

The responses to Ocasio-Cortez from split-ticket voters included:

• “It’s real simple… Trump and you care for the working class”
• “Trump is going to get us the money and lets men have a voice. You’re brilliant and have amazing passion!”
• “I feel like Trump and you are both real.”
• “I know people that did this and it was bc of Gaza.”
• “You are focused on the real issues people care about. Similar to Trump populism in some ways.”
• “Because of Gaza”
• “I voted Trump and dems because he reached out to Muslims”

Democrats struggled to rally core parts of their longtime base — which included younger Black men and Latino voters — which benefited Trump. The president-elect made major inroads, notably in several Democratic-heavy states, as many voters remained frustrated over the direction of the country.

Harris argued that her presidency would have tackled of some of the biggest economic and foreign policy challenges that the country faced, but in the end she wasn’t able to recreate Biden’s 2020 coalition.