In 2018, Alexandria OcasioCortez became America's youngest-ever congresswoman and part of the celebrated 'Squad' of House progressives.Now an established Democratic force, she talks about the climate crisis, Trump and misogyny in the US

'We are in a moment of generational change'

- David Smith 

THE CAMPAIGN OFFICE of Alexandria OcasioCortez sits deep in the Bronx, across the street from a Chinese takeaway and 99-cent discount store. The front window of the plain redbrick building is dominated by a big, smiling photo of the US congresswoman and notices that say: “We welcome all races, all sexual orientations, all gender identities, all religions, all abilities,” and “We say gay in the Bronx”. Inside, the words “¡AOC! ORGANIZING BASE” are printed in giant purple letters on a wall.

Ocasio-Cortez, who at 29 became the youngest woman and youngest Latina to serve in the House of Representatives, is now 33, and has twice been re-elected.

She deploys social media with enviable authenticity; she grills congressional witnesses like a seasoned interrogator; she is an object of perverse fascination for Fox News and she has been around Washington long enough to draw charges of “selling out”.

“AOC Is Just a Regular Old Democrat Now,” ran a headline on New York magazine’s Intelligencer website in July. The article’s author, Freddie deBoer, argued that Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement of Joe Biden for president in the 2024 election was her “last kiss-off to the radicals who had supported her, voted for her, donated to her campaign, and made her unusually famous in American politics”.

Ocasio-Cortez is aware of the leftwinger’s eternal dilemma – purity versus pragmatism – and is determined to navigate it with care.