Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hints at a run for higher office

The only thing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is wary of sharing is her ambitions for higher office.

Ocasio-Cortez became the breakout star of the House's progressive left from the moment she ousted a longstanding moderate. But when she's asked about where she'll go next, the usually outspoken lawmaker gets unusually "guarded and cautious about her words," Vanity Fair reports in a profile of Ocasio-Cortez.

Ocasio-Cortez's "aspirations are a matter of endless speculation," Vanity Fair writes, with a Senate seat, House leadership spot, or Cabinet post all suspected to be in the cards. Ocasio-Cortez doesn't necessarily shut those guesses down. "I don't know if I'm really going to be staying in the House forever, or if I do stay in the House, what that would look like," she said. "I don't see myself really staying where I'm at for the rest of my life."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Still, Ocasio-Cortez rejects the idea of "aspir[ing] to a quote-unquote higher position just for the sake of that title," she said. "I think it's part of our cultural understanding of politics, where — if you think someone is great, you automatically think they should be president," Ocasio-Cortez added. "I joke. I'm like, 'Is Congress not good enough?'"

Julián Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development secretary and 2020 presidential candidate, isn't afraid to forecast his predictions. "I've told her, I fully expect that she's going to run [for president] one day, and that she should," he said. "She absolutely has the talent, the dynamism, and the leadership ability." Read more at Vanity Fair.