President Donald Trump paid an unusual compliment to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during a campaign rally in Kansas on Monday, saying he likes the New York Democrat better than some of her progressive colleagues because “she’s doing her thing.”
The comment came as Trump was criticizing liberal Democrats in Congress at a campaign stop for Republican Sen. Roger Marshall at Heartland Credit Union Arena in Park City. Marshall is facing off against the Rev. Adam Hamilton in a contest national polls consider a toss-up.
Trump first targeted Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat born in Somalia, before going after Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan. Then he talked about Ocasio-Cortez.
“And she comes over here and starts quoting, I have constitutional rights, the Constitution. This country, and she hates our country. She is so pathetic,” Trump said. “Rashida Tlaib. How about that beauty, Rashida Tlaib? AOC. AOC. I like AOC better. You know, she’s doing her thing.”
Trump did not elaborate on his comment and proceeded to other Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Maxine Waters of California.
The line was particularly notable considering how consistently Trump has targeted Ocasio-Cortez since she was elected to the House in 2018. He has ridiculed the Green New Deal, her major climate plan, and questioned her intelligence. In June 2025, he called her stupid. In response, she described herself as “just a silly girl.”
Back in February, Trump described her foreign policy remarks at the Munich Security Conference as “not a good look for the United States.”
But Trump has offered occasional praise, saying in 2024 that she “has a spark that’s pretty amazing.” In a later Fox News interview, he said it would be nice to meet her but maintained that her politics could not win a national election.
Trump has also sought to divide Ocasio-Cortez from other members of “the Squad.” In 2019, Trump said that she was “fuming” because Tlaib and Omar were getting more attention. She responded by sharing his tweet with a laughing emoji.
The video quickly gained traction online, prompting people to create memes and add pictures of recent appearances by Ocasio-Cortez at her rallies. One protest sign even asked if she is too young to be president.
She is not. Ocasio-Cortez celebrated her 37th birthday on Oct. 13th; the Constitution requires the president to be 35. She would be 39 on Election Day in 2028, and if she wins, she would become the youngest president in U.S. history.
The rally came just a few days after Ocasio-Cortez campaigned in Michigan for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in the state. She campaigned in the Upper Peninsula and the Detroit region, including a Dearborn rally with Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. She has donated $1 million to his campaign. Trump attacked El-Sayed by name in the same speech.
Michigan has recently become a key state in the Democratic presidential primary calendar, which means this swing-state test is a litmus test for her message as she contemplates running for president.
The prediction markets seem to be catching wind of the buzz. As of Monday, traders on Polymarket assigned Ocasio-Cortez about a 13% chance of becoming president, second only to Vice President JD Vance at about 20%. The average across Polymarket, Kalshi, and PredictIt puts her at about 12%.
She has been leading the Polymarket market for the Democratic nomination since mid-August.
Polling provides a different picture. Some surveys of a potential Democratic primary show former Vice President Kamala Harris leading the field, and according to a polling average tracked by Race to the WH, Ocasio-Cortez trails Vance 44.9% to 42% in a head-to-head matchup. Prediction markets reflect bets made by traders, not voters’ opinions.
Ocasio-Cortez has not announced whether she is running for president, and she has also been mentioned as a potential Senate candidate in 2028. For now, reactions to Trump’s remark are a mix of amusement and additional speculation about her growing prominence.
The midterm elections are set for November 3rd.
