‘Trump Is FAR Weaker Than He Looks’: AOC Says GOP Shutdown Plan Already ‘Backfiring’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) urged Democrats to remain united and refuse to concede to President Donald Trump as the federal government faces a shutdown over a budget dispute. Speaking on MSNBC, she emphasized that “protecting people is too important a task for us to give up before anything even starts.”

The standoff began after Republicans proposed a temporary funding bill to keep the government operating, while Democrats insisted on including an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire soon.

Ocasio-Cortez warned that Trump’s confidence in surviving the shutdown is misplaced. She argued that his and the GOP’s power relies on “the perception of inevitability,” which pressures opponents to surrender too soon.

Polls, however, show waning public support for Trump and congressional Republicans. “Donald Trump is at record levels of unpopularity,” Ocasio-Cortez noted, adding that Republican overconfidence is “backfiring.”

She urged Democrats to stay resolute, insisting that the fight is about protecting vital programs, especially healthcare. “We now have a chance to defend the healthcare of millions of Americans. Let’s take it,” she wrote on X.

Ocasio-Cortez also criticized Trump’s threats to fire federal workers during the shutdown, describing it as a political bluff meant to intimidate.

According to her, Trump’s administration has already been “eliminating the federal workforce” through his Department of Government Efficiency, deepening the strain on public services.