MAGA Pushes Back After AOC Claims Trump Supporters Are Turning to Socialism

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has sparked fresh backlash after suggesting that some former Trump voters are drifting toward her political worldview. According to AOC, she has been approached by people who once supported Donald Trump but later broadened their media consumption, reassessed their beliefs, and now claim to support her ideas. She framed this as evidence that curiosity and exposure to different perspectives can shift even hardened political identities.

But many on the right are calling the claim outright fiction — and they aren’t holding back.

Critics argue that AOC’s positions fundamentally clash with everything MAGA voters stand for. From open borders and mass migration to identity politics and expansive government control, they say her agenda is exactly what Trump supporters have spent years opposing. The idea that these voters would suddenly embrace democratic socialism, they argue, defies political reality.

One of the loudest rebuttals came from Trump White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who dismissed AOC’s claim outright.

“I’d like to see the ballots of the people who supposedly said this to her,” Leavitt said. “Because I can assure you MAGA Republicans oppose everything that AOC and the modern-day Democrat Party stands for.”

Leavitt went on to list the core issues she believes unite MAGA voters: opposition to open borders like those seen under the Biden administration, rejection of men competing in women’s sports, resistance to high taxes and government overreach, and a belief in pro-growth, America First economic policies.

She emphasized that under Donald Trump, the Republican Party has become the party of the working man and woman — a shift that has reshaped American politics.

That argument is backed by voting data. Trump’s dominance among the white working class, particularly voters without college degrees, was historic. In 2016, he defeated Hillary Clinton among those voters by nearly 40 points. In subsequent elections, he also made significant gains among Black and Latino voters, further cementing his connection to working-class Americans across racial lines.

Conservative commentator Greg Gutfeld was even more blunt, accusing AOC of fabricating her story entirely.

“She says Trump supporters come up to her and say yes to democratic socialism,” Gutfeld said. “I can tell you how many times that’s happened — zero. It didn’t happen.”

Gutfeld mocked the idea that Trump supporters, who are notoriously opposed to socialism, would suddenly embrace it. He warned that “democratic socialism” is simply socialism with better branding, arguing that history shows such systems inevitably slide into authoritarianism. He cited Venezuela as a cautionary example, where promises of socialism for the people eventually led to centralized power, controlled elections, and the erosion of civil liberties.

According to Gutfeld, Trump plays a very different role in the political power structure. Rather than empowering elites, he acts as what Gutfeld colorfully described as “the a-hole lawyer” for everyday Americans — someone willing to fight institutions and interests that working-class voters feel have ignored or exploited them.

Critics also point to AOC’s record as further evidence that her claim doesn’t add up. Her support for defunding the police, cashless bail, sanctuary policies, higher taxes, and heavy regulation — including opposition to Amazon’s New York expansion — are policies Trump voters overwhelmingly reject. To them, these ideas represent instability and decline, not progress.

For many conservatives, the controversy reflects a broader frustration with what they see as political fantasy masquerading as grassroots momentum. They argue that calling socialism “democratic” doesn’t change its core nature — and that voting away freedoms is still losing them, even if the process is technically voluntary.

As debates over crime, incarceration, and governance continue — particularly in cities like New York — critics say the consequences of progressive policies are becoming harder to ignore. Rising crime, repeat offenders, and weakened law enforcement, they argue, undermine claims that these ideas appeal to working-class Americans.

In the end, MAGA supporters say the reaction to AOC’s comments was predictable. To them, the suggestion that Trump voters are flocking to socialism isn’t just wrong — it’s emblematic of how disconnected progressive leaders have become from the people they claim to understand.