AOC was devastated by the passing of President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” nearly getting to the point of tears during an interview in which she chastised her fellow representatives for their support of the bill and described the day of its passing as “one of the saddest days in modern American history.”
For background, President Trump’s massive budget bill, known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” officially passed in the House of Representatives on July 3, 2025, leading conservatives across the nation to celebrate. However, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), an outspoken critic of the bill, could barely hold herself together while discussing the impact of its passing.
During an interview that was shared on X, AOC told a reporter that she believed “this is one of the saddest days in modern American history,” adding, “This is the largest…this is the largest withdrawal and ending of health care in American history.” She continued, “17 million people in our country. Seventeen million Americans in our country are going to lose their Medicaid.”
AOC then said that because of the bill, small business owners would “have their health care costs skyrocket, and people are going to have their SNAP and WIC cut back.” She then claimed, “People are going to go hungry. People are going to get sick on a scale unlike anything we’ve ever seen, and it’s all of it is just to finance tax cuts for billionaires and the wealthiest corporations who don’t even need it.”
Continuing, the representative said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen, I don’t think we have ever seen, or are prepared for how catastrophic this is set to be for a lot of people,” going on to downplay the bill’s major benefits, adding, “I think it’s it’s devastating.”
Building a shaky argument, AOC then condemned the bill further, saying, “They’re talking about this as though it’s some tax cut, even the stuff that they’re talking about taxes on tips, no tax on tips. That’s only for people. That’s only up to $25,000, and if you’re making less than that, you’re already kind of exempt from a lot of these things in the first place. ”
Next, AOC said that in passing the bill, Republicans were “giving people crumbs” and “taking away the whole loaf,” adding that she felt that it was “just a genuinely really sad day for our country.” Then, when asked about her thoughts on House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ final message after the bill’s passing, AOC added, “Well, you know, to Leader Jeffries’ message, he’s right.”
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Building on her point, the congresswoman said, that for her party, the best way to respond to the passing of the bill was to “press on,” adding, “In order for us to salvage what we have and to build through we have to chart a new course and a new path to our future, and we have to make sure that there are consequences if you’re on Medicaid, if you’re on ACA, if you are on Medicare and rely on Medicaid to help with your long term care.”
Watch the clip:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video