The 2024 presidential election will begin heating up any week now. To date, only one major candidate – former President Donald Trump – has entered the fray.
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But fresh candidates are expected to enter the race soon. Observers are already beginning to speculate what the general election matchup might look like.
Many observers are daydreaming of a matchup between Donald Trump and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC. Certainly, a Trump-AOC matchup would be high-profile and contentious – placing the personifications of two different political movements against one another.
But is a Trump-AOC matchup feasible?
If so, what might such a match up look like?
AOC for President?
AOC will just meet Article II’s age requirement (35 years), in time for the 2024 election.
So, for the first time, AOC will be eligible to serve in the country’s highest office.
Will she go for it?
Probably not. If incumbent President Joe Biden runs for reelection (as most are expecting he will) then AOC will not run against the sitting president.
AOC talks a big game about being a progressive, an outsider, and a rabble-rouser. But AOC will fall in line with the mainstream Democrats the moment she is pressured. And if Biden runs for reelection there will be immense pressure to get in line behind the incumbent.
Cortez will comply; you can forget about some AOC-led left-flank challenge to Biden.
But what if Joe Biden does not run for reelection? Biden is terribly unpopular – and far too old for a second term. Biden could pull an LBJ and call it a day with a term of eligibility remaining.
If Biden did withdraw, then maybe, possibly, AOC would run. House Representatives don’t typically run for president, but House Representatives don’t typically have 13 million Twitter followers. AOC is uniquely positioned as the progressive voice of her generation.
AOC doesn’t speak for me, I want to be clear about that, but she has leveraged social media and a perpetual (and somehow effective) victimhood persona into becoming the House’s most high-profile member. An AOC candidacy would be like catnip for millennial and Gen Z progressives.
But AOC has never played on the presidential stage before; she’s never faced that kind of scrutiny. How would she fare? It’s hard to say – but she would likely be going up against a seasoned pro. Perhaps former President Donald Trump.
Who Would Win?
Trump will need to win the GOP primary, of course, which won’t be a cakewalk. Trump would face significant challenges along the way to a third consecutive GOP nomination.
But assuming Trump gets the nod – and assuming Cortez gets the DNC nomination (these are big assumptions), what might a Trump v. AOC primary look like?
Well, a Trump v. AOC primary would basically pit two warring factions of America against each other. Trump is a god-like figure for his cult-like MAGA following. AOC on the other hand has become some sort of progressive deity.
AOC, like Trump, would inspire a zealous following from her pole. Each candidate would frame the race in existential terms – a fight for the soul of America. MAGA would view AOC as the worst possible outcome; progressives would view Trump as the worst possible outcome – so their respective support for their own candidate would be completely fervent.
Regarding the nuts and bolts of the race, both Trump and Cortez are expert social media and traditional media users. The matchup would cause a media frenzy; debates would be treated like Super Bowls; the social media exchanges would be scrutinized in The New York Times.
Both candidates are capable fundraisers; they would each raise heaps in a race pitted in existential terms.
In sum, a Trump v. Cortez 2024 ticket would probably be the most annoying, most inauthentic, most victimhood-centered – and most high-profile – presidential election ever.
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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison lives in Oregon and listens to Dokken.
Ken
February 3, 2023 at 7:33 pm
I am a conservative registered as a Democrat. I think both parties
SUCK. Trump is a freaking joke. But I agree with many of the ways his administration treated many, many issues. I do not believe he cared a bit about that. All he cares about is how he looks to his main supporters.
AOC, on the other hand, is about as useful to the US as a bartender in an average Manhattan bar. Oh, wait a minute, her last useful occupation was as a bartender in an average Manhattan bar.
IMO, if the next presidential election is Trump vs. AOC, that will be a signal that the American election system is broken, big-time. I’m not talking about the way ballots are collected and counted. I’m talking about the fact that our two most powerful political parties believe that Trump and AOC are worth being Presidents, when clearly neither is worthy of dog catcher for Podunk, KY. Believe me, I am not running down the State of KY. I’m just saying the State of KY deserves better Dog Catcher candidates than either Trump or AOC.
So, bottom line. Why in the h*ll have you devoted one single alphabetic letter (like, for instance, “z”) to this column talking about two of the most ridiculous, embarrassing jerkweeds to ever enter politics in the US. Why don’t you write about some Republicans and some Democrats who know anything worthwhile about ANYTHING, who in your opinion would make worthy presidential candidates?
You are part of the problem. The freaking media is a major part of the problem. You are supposed to be reporting on facts and writing opinion pieces on important issues. Instead, you are spending your time trying to maximize your clicks.
I am sorry that I added a few dozen clicks to your count. But I had to write this.
commonsensewoman
February 3, 2023 at 10:10 pm
AOC vs Trump!! You must be masquerading as The Babylon Bee!!
TRUMP IS THE ONLY PRESIDENT IN MY LIFETIME THAT TRULY LOVES THE UNITED STATES AND AMERICANS!! THE MEDIA LIED CONSTANTLY ABOUT HIM!!
Howard Goodman
February 3, 2023 at 10:15 pm
Classic clik bait. You are not a journalist. The National Enquirer is more your speed.
Bob
February 4, 2023 at 10:15 pm
Hahahaha hahahaha
stan Bemis
February 5, 2023 at 4:59 am
I have despised mr trump ever since he first tossed his hat in the ring,i bought a present for my brother through the trump camp n somehow got on his mailing list.I am a classic liberal n that means that i’m open minded about other people thinking different from me,n that’s why i gifted my brother. I spent at least a year on Mr. trump’s E-mail n he would send me at least eight e-mails a day,many duplicates’ been trying to get his people to stop sending me shit but they pay no attention. I have been selected by mr trump to be his patriot of the month.I had to ask my bank to recover money that i did not authorize to be withdrawn .previously, I would write to him that i would rather vote for a toilet.he is not a legitimate Canidate..
stan Bemis
February 5, 2023 at 5:23 am
Mr. trump is not a legitimate Canidate for any public office .Hopefully, he will not be allowed to run.on the other hand,AOC is like a ” mr smith goes to Washington” living incarnation-she would be a breath of fresh air in the oval office n she could n would, no doubt, help to make a genuine contribution to the American dream.
Art Gearhart
February 5, 2023 at 12:40 pm
IMO – Neither candidate would stand a snowballs chance in hell of getting elected, why would you even waste the time and effort to present such a scenario. Good, viable candidates are out there why don’t you write about them, I think it’s time for a woman to take the top spot on the presidential ballot. The need for an intelligent president far outweighs the good ole boys B/S. I support voter ID for every election, I’ll soon be 80
and grew up with that as the norm. Don’t know any local citizen not having acceptable IDs.
Not AOC
February 5, 2023 at 1:34 pm
The person above is a threat to America.
If Trump were to stay off twitter he’d still be President and we’d be far better off as a country. I don’t care for his demeanor, but he was handilly the best policy President of the last 30 years.
Mike A
February 5, 2023 at 5:01 pm
AOC for President of the United States of America. 2024
Michael Skaggs
February 6, 2023 at 3:30 pm
Trump vs AOC? Look for a huge turnout for the Libertarian and Green Parties. There might also be a conservative third party.
Judy Talone
February 6, 2023 at 5:53 pm
AOC all the way ???? we need a strong, smart young woman to get this country back on track!!!!! Let’s go ladybug , you can bet on my VOTE ALSO MY HUSBAND!!!!
Raymond Davis
February 7, 2023 at 8:32 pm
Interesting that you say that Biden is too old to run again, but don’t mention that same demographic for the Trumpster?
Hawk Pettengill
February 9, 2023 at 7:55 am
There has to be one…:
“commonsensewoman February 3, 2023 at 10:10 pm
AOC vs Trump!! You must be masquerading as The Babylon Bee!!
TRUMP IS THE ONLY PRESIDENT IN MY LIFETIME THAT TRULY LOVES THE UNITED STATES AND AMERICANS!! THE MEDIA LIED CONSTANTLY ABOUT HIM!!”
People like commonsensewoman scare the hell out of me due to their ferverent dedication and devotion to the most famous conman the US has ever witnessed. Did he do some good in his 4 years? Yes, but it is severely outweighed by the bad and possibly illegal things he did.
AOC… You know, maybe in another 10 years. Shes still to sophmorish to even consider for the Presidency. Still too idealistic to be able to run on a platform that would draw both the majority vote and the electoral college.
The biggest problem we have in America today is the growing division between liberals and conservatives. The Republicans are basically done hiding their agenda, and now putting it out there with just enough spin to make it look like they are trying to do some good, but in reality, it’s a money and power grab.
The Democrats aren’t really any better. Sure, they are skewed more about people’s rights than any republican ever will be (unless they can gain from it) but they have their corporate sponsors that apparently carry enough weight to block Bernie and put Joe Biden as as their candidate. Bernie scares corporations. Joe works for them.
If the conservatives could be a little more progressive in their policies, and the liberals be a little more fiscally conservative in their programs, we as a nation might do a whole lot better in the long run. But as it stands now, especially in the light of the Maga cult, we are racing towards a split that hasn’t been seen since the 1860’s, and no one wants that.