Trump gives grudging praise to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez while deriding other progressives

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Oct 26, 2026

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President Donald Trump is giving grudging praise to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., even as he derides her fellow progressive lawmakers and candidates ahead of the congressional midterms.

Continuing his effort to blunt what polls say is a building Democratic blue wave, Trump told a cheering crowd in Michigan that he has surprising few bad things to say about AOC even though she is one of his fiercest critics in Congress.

“Somehow, I don’t mind AOC that much,” Trump told a crowd during his Sunday rally in Michigan. “I don’t know why, she doesn’t bug me too much.”

He recently predicted AOC, who has been rallying progressives from Maine to Michigan, would run for president in 2028.

The president had only nasty words for AOC’s progressive ally Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., an immigrant from Somalia whom his Justice Department is investigating for supposed fraud.

“She’s a little troublemaker,” Trump said of Omar. “She comes to this country, and she says, ‘I have constitutional rights, and I don’t like the way you run the United States of America.'”

“I tell you, does it piss me off,” he added.

Trump also trashed progressive Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed as a “jihadist” and member of the Muslim Brotherhood group, while calling him “Mohammed” instead of his real first name.

El-Sayed brushed off Trump’s insults at his own rally, vowing to win the battleground Senate race against Rep. Mike Rogers.

“I will be Senator Mohammed to you, bro,” El-Sayed said.

With just a week before Election Day, Trump plans to barnstorm the country all week as Republicans seek to cling to control of Congress.

He’s notably speaking mostly in normally deep-red states like Texas and Mississippi, suggesting Republicans are concerned about losing Senate seats and congressional districts they should have in the bag.

Democrats are widely considered strong favorites to retake the House and modest front-runners to flip the four GOP-held Senate seats they need to win the upper chamber as well.

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