Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Friday she does not trust Marjorie Taylor Greene on what is good for Gazans and Israelis, reopening a bitter argument on the left over whether progressives should ever work with the Georgia Republican on Gaza policy.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, Ocasio-Cortez described Greene as a proven bigot and antisemite and said she did not think it benefited the movement to align the left with white nationalists. The remarks came after a student asked whether Ocasio-Cortez stood by comments she made in 2021 criticizing white supremacist sympathizers in the House GOP caucus.
“I personally do not trust someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene, a proven bigot and antisemite, on the issues of what is good for Gazans and Israelis,” Ocasio-Cortez said, adding, “I don't think that it benefits our movement, in that instance, to align the left with white nationalists.” She said she does cooperate with Republicans on specific bills when their motives match hers and the outcomes serve progressive goals, but said Greene did not clear that bar on Gaza and Israeli accountability.
The exchange lands in the middle of an ongoing disagreement among progressives over coalition strategy, and over whether rejecting Greene amounts to purity testing or basic political judgment. Some on the left have pushed Ocasio-Cortez to be more willing to work with Greene on Gaza legislation, arguing that vote counts matter more than rhetorical sparring. Greene made that case herself on May 9, posting on X that Ocasio-Cortez “refused to vote for my amendment to strip funding for Israel” and that “votes are the only thing that matters, not a bunch of words and nasty name calling.”
Those critics quickly took sides. Ryan Grim wrote that Greene had “sacrificed her political career to stand against genocide, against Trump, against the Epstein Class.” Cenk Uygur said, “This is just terrible,” and added, “She sounds just like the establishment.” Glenn Greenwald argued that Ocasio-Cortez condemns policies most forcefully when Trump and Republicans are responsible, but becomes “muted and deferential” when Democrats do the same. Greenwald also said Greene had shown a willingness to work across party lines toward outcomes she believes are just.
That dispute is not only about Gaza. It has become another flashpoint in a broader Democratic argument over who counts as a useful ally, and how far activists and elected officials should go in the name of winning a policy vote. Ocasio-Cortez’s answer Friday was blunt: she will work with Republicans when she believes the result advances progressive goals, but not with Greene on this fight.
That leaves the left with a sharper dividing line than the one that surfaced after the 2021 House GOP caucus remarks. Ocasio-Cortez did not retreat from those criticisms, and she did not soften her view of Greene either. She answered the question directly: on Gaza and Israel, Greene is not a partner she trusts, and the political cost of pretending otherwise is, in her view, too high.
