Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is terrified Trump supporters could kill her this month, worries about marrying a white man, and feels mistreated by fellow Democrats, according to a new profile in GQ magazine.
The New York socialist and leader of the so-called “Squad” appears on the latest edition’s cover in a striking navy-blue suit. The cover text promises a “conversation about masculinity, power, and politics in a post-Roe America.” Inside, a photo spread includes shots of AOC posing on the Capitol steps in a black gown.
“I hold two contradictory things at the same time,” Ocasio-Cortez says in the interview. “One is just the relentless belief that anything is possible. But at the same time, my experience here has given me a front-row seat to how deeply and unconsciously, as well as consciously, so many people in this country hate women. And they hate women of color.”
Presenting GQ's October cover star: @AOC. The congresswoman opens up on the critical need for men to join the fight for abortion rights, whether she believes she'll ever be president, and much more https://t.co/uwWSexYB8h pic.twitter.com/UqOnSNwZ2y
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) September 7, 2022
Describing her harrowing daily drive to work on Capitol Hill, she says she fears she may be killed within weeks, or even days, simply because so many people hate women.
“People ask me questions about the future,” she said. “And realistically, I can’t even tell you if I’m going to be alive in September. And that weighs very heavily on me. And it’s not just the right wing. Misogyny transcends political ideology: left, right, center.”
The bartender-turned-politician, who is running for a third term in the House in November, is dubbed by interviewer Wesley Lowery as “the political voice of a generation—and a cultural star whose power transcends politics.”
To the progressive left, Lowery writes, Ocasio-Cortez is “the best and possibly last—depending on how quickly some combination of fascism, religious fundamentalism, and climate change comes for us all—chance; a source of hope that things can get better in their lifetimes.”
Ocasio-Cortez, who in April got engaged to Riley Roberts, discusses her concerns about spending her life with a white man, worrying about the difficulties of a multi-racial, multi-cultural relationship.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was engaged in April to Riley Roberts, opens up in a new GQ magazine interview. (Getty Images)
But of all her troubles with misogynists and Trump supporters, AOC claims her own political party’s treatment of her has been the most disappointing. After her election in 2018, Democrat House members gave her the cold shoulder, she said.
“It was open hostility, open hostility to my presence, my existence,” Ocasio-Cortez said.“Since I got here, literally day one, even before day one, I’ve experienced a lot of targeting diminishment from my party. And the pervasiveness of that diminishment, it was all-encompassing at times. I feel a little more steady on my own two feet now.”
As for her supposed early feud with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, AOC said it was overblown, but added of her relationship with the party boss, “I wouldn’t say it’s personal.”
Overall, AOC feels “despised” in her role.
“Imagine working a job and your bosses don’t like you and folks on your team are suspicious of you. And then the competing company is trying to kill you,” she said.