Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has been swamped with criticism after her campaign spent nearly $50,000 in Puerto Rico on luxury hotels, upscale meals/catering, and a $23,000 venue rental at the Coliseo de Puerto coinciding with her August 2025 attendance at a Bad Bunny concert there.
Critics, including Republicans, highlight this as clashing with her socialist branding and anti-gentrification rhetoric during the trip. Her campaign defends it as necessary for supporting local causes, events, staff, and security.
Blasting AOC for her hypocrisy, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, “This is not new for her, she’s a hypocrite.” Continuing, he said, “Remember the dress that she wore to that famous MET Gala, where it said ‘Tax The Rich’ – it wasn’t exactly ‘off the rack,’ if you will, it was a designer dress made for her.”
Continuing to hammer AOC for the luxury binge, Spicer kept going, saying, “These people know no bounds. They love to tell everyone what they should do about their carbon footprint, and then they fly private. They love to talk about the excesses of the rich and then they benefit from it, they trade stocks, they get rich in Congress. I’ve pretty much had it with these guys, but at the end of the day it’s great they are being called out on it because the hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
Likewise, GOP political strategist Matt Gorman issued his own condemnation of the socialist representative’s spending blowout. “AOC wouldn’t be a proper socialist if she wasn’t irresponsibly spending someone else’s money,” he said. He added, thunderously, “Whether Mamdani, or her, these people claim to advocate for the working people, yet don’t mind treating themselves to the spoils of other people’s money.”
Joining the chorus of criticism, GOP Florida congressional candidate Michael Carbonara stated, “AOC rails nonstop against ‘the rich,’ yet drops tens of thousands in campaign cash on luxury hotels, upscale catering, and elite venues on a Puerto Rico trip,” he said. He added, “Socialism for you, first-class living for her. The hypocrisy writes itself.”
Offering a cheap defense, Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben, spokesperson for AOC’s campaign, said that AOC “regularly travels to Puerto Rico to support local causes and host events that require both staff and security.”
"*" indicates required fields
Continuing these feeble deflections, the woke spokesperson alleged, “She is deeply proud of her investment in grassroots organizing and will continue to be active in advocating for both people on the island and the millions of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora.”
Many critics also pointed to her previous remarks, which contrasted with her recent choices. “We have to run from the bottom up . . . The demands of the working class, like better wages, must be front and center,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said less than a year ago. She added, “We pinch pennies elsewhere, but it’s worth every dime to pay a living wage.”
On social media, conservatives mocked AOC. “THIS HYPOCRISY IS SICKENING! – AOC screams about crushing “the rich” every day. But she’s blowing donor money on luxury hotels and elite venues in Puerto Rico. ‘How the hell do these socialists preach poverty for us while living like kings on our dime?'” one popular post noted.
Watch AOC freak out after getting roasted by Sen. Fetterman here: