Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says Americans Won’t Be ‘Intimidated’ After Zohran Mamdani’s Win as Trump Skirts Responsibility
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) celebrated Democrats’ many wins on Tuesday as evidence the U.S. wouldn’t be “intimidated” by Donald Trump — all as the president claimed Democrats only won because his name wasn’t on the ballot.
Ocasio-Cortez, speaking to MSNBC, said the wins for Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s mayoral election and Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races signified that Americans wouldn’t thrive on fear anymore.
Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa to win the mayoral election, while Spanberger bested Winsome Earle-Sears to become Virginia’s first female governor.
“I think what this night is starting and shaping up to represent is that Americans everywhere are not going to be scared,” she said. “We will not be intimidated by an administration that is violating the rights and making life hard and unaffordable for every single American in this country, and we will send in a wave of Democrats that not bow to this administration, but stand up to this administration and doing so in the interest of working families, in the interest to make life affordable, housing affordable and to stand for the civil rights of all.”
In another interview with CNN, Ocasio-Cortez said Trump’s threats to spare only the bare minimum of federal funding for New York City likely wouldn’t land well. “I think he should be careful about the threats that he issues and what cities he threatens,” she said.
“New York City is not a city, as we see from this electorate…our people are not people who easily back down, who take well to threats,” she told CNN. “I just don’t think that Americans take well to leaders who try to coerce them through hostile messaging. I think they want public servants who work for them and not against them, and I think that the results that we’ve seen in Georgia, in Virginia, in New Jersey and in New York City demonstrate that.”
Her comments came after Trump, in his endorsement of Andrew Cuomo on Monday, said it would be “highly unlikely that I will be contributing Federal Funds, other than the very minimum as required, to my beloved first home.”
In his first comments after Mamdani’s win, Trump suggested Republicans’ ultimate problem was that he wasn’t an option to vote for.
“‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
He then tried to move on from the election, issuing one post on the ratings of his “60 Minutes” interview and another urging Republicans to abolish the filibuster, the Senate mechanism requiring 60 votes to pass most legislation, and pass “Voter Reform, Voter ID, No Mail-In Ballots.”
Some Fox News personalities were also frustrated by the results. “The Democrats are going to spin this. ‘This is a referendum on Trump!’” Jesse Watters said on Tuesday night. “I mean, these are all blue states.”
Still, Trump and Republicans’ anger did little to dampen Democrats’ spirits over the victories in New York, New Jersey and Virginia.
“Starting at 1% in the polls, [Mamdani] pulled off one of the great political upsets in modern American history,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) posted on X. “Yes. We CAN create a government that represents working people and not the 1%. I look forward to working with Zohran as he builds a city that works for all.”
“It’s a reminder that when we come together around strong, forward-looking leaders who care about the issues that matter, we can win,” former President Barack Obama wrote on X. “We’ve still got plenty of work to do, but the future looks a little bit brighter.”
“Double woohoo for Mayor-elect [Mamdani]!” wrote Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-NY). “His campaign showed that when we fight for bold policies like universal child care that make life more affordable for working families, we can win big.”
“Just spoke to Mayor-Elect @ZohranKMamdani and told him I’m looking forward to working together to make our city more affordable and livable,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul added on X. “Congratulations to him and to every New Yorker who made their voice heard in one of the city’s highest-turnout elections on record.”
“Democrats are smoking Donald Trump and Republican extremists throughout the country,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wrote on X. “Enough with the premature obituaries. The Democratic Party is back.”
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