Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave a 40-second-long rambling response when asked Friday if the U.S. should send troops to protect Taiwan if China invaded the contested Asian island.
Ocasio-Cortez, a rumored 2028 presidential candidate and a leader of the Democratic Party’s far-left flank, spoke at the 62nd Annual Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday. There, Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua asked the progressive lawmaker, “Would and should the U.S. actually commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan if China were to move?”
“You know, I think that — uh — this is such a — you know, I think that this is a — this is, of course a — uh — a very long standing policy of the United States. And, I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point,” Ocasio-Cortez replied.
“And we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise,” the congresswoman continued, concluding her response without giving Lacqua a “yes” or “no” answer.
WATCH:
Deer in the headlights: @AOC panics after being asked whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan against Communist China:
“Um… you know… I think that … this is… such a … I think that… this is a um… This is a very longstanding policy of the united states.” pic.twitter.com/Noik7bRpC1
— POLARIS National Security (@PolarisNatSec) February 13, 2026
Deer in the headlights: Ocasio-Cortez also did not rule out a potential presidential bid in 2028, when The New York Times’s Katrin Bennhold asked her a question framed with “when you run for president.”
“So when you run for president, are you going to impose a wealth tax or a billionaire’s tax?” Bennhold asked.
“I don’t think that we have to wait for any one president to impose a wealth tax,” the congresswoman replied, without explicitly confirming or denying she was considering a bid.
The 2028 cycle marks the first presidential election in which the 36-year-old congresswoman is constitutionally eligible to run for the White House.
The Munich Security Conference is “the world’s leading forum for debating international security policy” and “a venue for diplomatic initiatives to address the world’s most pressing security concerns,” according to its website.
Ocasio-Cortez — a self-avowed socialist and ally of Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — is more known for her stances on economic and other domestic issues, rather than foreign policy, The New York Times noted.
During her first run for Congress in 2018, she notably admitted, “I’m not the expert in geopolitics,” when pressed by a reporter to clarify what she had meant by a reference to the Israeli “occupation” of Palestine.
Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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