AOC Won’t Rule Out Challenging Fellow Dem Kirsten Gillibrand as She Teases Potential ‘Higher Office’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) teased a potential challenge to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in a wide-ranging interview with Politico.

Speaking from her Capitol Hill office, Ocasio-Cortez touched on her sometimes tense relationship with her party’s leadership, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and she also teased a potential “higher office” in her future. The 33-year-old congresswoman was asked directly about rumors that she may be getting ready to put in a primary challenge against Gillibrand, who is up for reelection.

“Don’t ask me that question. Print that,” she said.

Gillibrand announced this year that she will be seeking a third term in the Senate next year.

“I love being senator of New York, and I think my ability to deliver for our state has never been greater,” the senator told the New York Times.

In Ocasio-Cortez’s interview with Politico, she also had critical words for moderates and other critics who equate “progressives” like herself in the Democratic Party to the more extreme wing of the Republican Party.

“There are people, including moderates, who sometimes try to draw this completely unfair, false equivalence between progressives and, frankly, the fascists that we see in the Republican Party,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

At another point, the Democrat vaguely spoke about her political future, admitting she could see herself outside of elected office, but also teasing a potential run for “higher office.” Ocasio-Cortez will soon hit the age requirement to become president. She technically would meet the requirement in time for the 2024 election.

“There’s a world where I’m here for a long time in this seat, in this position. There’s a world where I’m not an elected official anymore. There’s a world where … I may be in higher office,” she said.