Trump claims AOC may run for president as far-left Dems back away from extreme policy
President Donald Trump said Friday that far-left Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., are now trying to distance themselves from some of the radical positions they once championed, noting he believes she may be after a 2028 bid for the White House.
In an interview with Fox News correspondent Alexis McAdams, Trump was asked about Ocasio-Cortez's perceived shift away from her earlier calls to defund police departments and other soft-on-crime policies.
"If you really look at it, they're all saying the same thing," Trump said of progressive Democrats. "They're all trying to disavow themselves from what they said about crime and, well, they're saying, ‘We love sanctuary cities.’"
When asked directly whether he thinks AOC is positioning herself for a presidential bid, Trump said he thinks AOC will run.
The congresswoman has refused to rule out a run for president, but she hasn't looked past November's midterm elections.
ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ SHRUGS OFF PAST 'DEFUND THE POLICE' COMMENTS, JOKING 'WOKE 1 WAS CRAZY'
During an interview with ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, the congresswoman attempted to dismiss the extreme rhetoric of the so-called "Woke 1" era.
The term is used by some progressive politicians to describe the pandemic-era social justice activism and far-left political rhetoric in 2019 and 2020, when some called for the defunding of law enforcement agencies, the abolition of police and prisons, the elimination of cash bail, open borders and unchecked migration.
Trump said some Democrats are now trying to distance themselves from sanctuary cities, which generally don't cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
"I think you're going to see sanctuary cities start to end, because sanctuary cities are a disaster. And somebody like her, she was big for sanctuary cities," Trump said of Ocasio-Cortez. "They cause crime.
"That's when it all started. No cash bail," he added. "Somebody kills somebody, and they just say, ‘All right, go ahead and come back in two weeks.’"
During AOC's ABC interview, Jonathan Karl briefly pressed the congresswoman, a member of the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), on radical comments made by fellow socialist and Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong in 2020 and 2021.
"I have a local city councilman that has this saying, 'Woke 1 was crazy,'" Ocasio-Cortez said while grinning. "And I think that what’s important is that we have to assess what a candidate is saying now."
Ocasio-Cortez's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.