Rep Ocasio-Cortez Undercuts Global Stage Debut With Word-Salad Answer To Basic Foreign Policy Question
New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave a rambling 40-second response when asked Friday whether the United States should send troops to protect Taiwan if China invades the disputed Asian island.
Ocasio-Cortez, the presumptive 2028 presidential candidate and leader of the far-left Democratic Party, spoke Friday at the 62nd Annual Security Conference in Munich, Germany. There, Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua asked the progressive lawmaker: “Would and should the United States actually send American troops to defend Taiwan if China were to act?” (RELATED: AOC doesn’t rule out running for president in 2028)
“You know, I think that – uh – it’s such a – you know, I think it’s a – it’s, of course, a – uh – a very long-standing policy of the United States. And I think what we hope is we want to make sure we never get to that point,” Ocasio-Cortez responded.
“And we want to make sure that we move forward in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid such a confrontation and this question arising,” the congresswoman continued, concluding her response without giving Lacqua a “yes” or “no” answer.
WATCH:
🚨 Deer in the headlights: @AOC panicked when asked if the United States would defend Taiwan against communist China:
“Um… you know… I think… it’s… such… I think… it’s a uh… It’s a very long-standing policy of the United States.” pic.twitter.com/Noik7bRpC1
– POLARIS National Security (@PolarisNatSec) February 13, 2026
Ocasio-Cortez also didn’t rule out a possible presidential run in 2028, when Katrin Bennhold of the New York Times asked her a question phrased as, “When will you run for president.”
“So when you run for president, are you going to impose a wealth tax or a billionaire tax?” » asked Bennhold.
“I don’t think we should wait for some president to impose a wealth tax,” the congresswoman responded, neither explicitly confirming nor denying that she was considering an offer.
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 aimed at addressing the world’s most pressing security concerns,” according to its website.
Ocasio-Cortez — a self-described socialist and ally of Democratic New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — is better known for her positions on economic and other domestic issues than on foreign policy, the New York Times noted.
During her first run for Congress in 2018, she notably admitted, “I’m not an expert on geopolitics,” when a reporter asked her to clarify what she meant by 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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