AOC Blushes After Vance Singles Her Out As 2028 Democratic Frontrunner
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Blushes After Vance Singles Her Out As 2028 Democratic Frontrunner
(Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Derek VanBuskirk Reporter July 01, 2026 1:26 PM ET July 01, 2026 1:26 PM ET Derek VanBuskirk Reporter Font Size:Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez smiled and blushed on camera as she learned that Vice President JD Vance said he expected her to be the frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
The clip, shared by MeidasTouch on Tuesday, shows the young democratic socialist taking questions from reporters outside the Capitol before she’s asked about Vance. (RELATED: Socialist Upsets Dem Congresswoman Who First Took Office The Year She Was Born)
“JD Vance just said in an interview that he thinks you are going to be the leading Democratic candidate for president in 2028,” one reporter asked as AOC’s flushed cheeks turned into a toothy smile. “What’s your response to that?”
“I mean … um … you know … uh …,” AOC stumbled through her response, looking down with a wide grin and subtly biting her lower lip.
Reporter: JD Vance just said in an interview that he thinks you are going to be the leading Democratic candidate for president in 2028. What’s your response to that?
AOC: pic.twitter.com/s5qodMBiN1
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 30, 2026
“I hope he is. That’s what I’ll say,” she concluded before taking off away from the reporters and the Capitol.
The reporter called out, asking her to clarify whether she meant that she hoped Vance would serve as the Republican nominee, to which AOC shouted, “Yes.”
Vance recently sat down with Daily Wire host Michael Knowles to discuss the vice president’s new book, “Communion,” which documents his faith journey from Protestant to atheist to Catholic.
Near the end of the interview, Knowles asked Vance who he believed would be the leading Democrat in the next presidential election.
“I think it’s got to be AOC. I know that’s probably conventional wisdom,” Vance responded, drawing a little pushback from Knowles, who said the obvious choice would have been Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
.@VP tells @michaeljknowles about specific times in his life where he has felt the “touch of God,” leading him to a faith that goes beyond the intellectual:
“One glass kind of jumps off and shatters on the ground in the middle of this conversation.” pic.twitter.com/9Dfhpkw7cQ
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) June 30, 2026
“No, I don’t buy that,” Vance said, adding that Newsom had hurt his chances by telling a room full of black people that he, like them, had a low IQ.
He added that he is “fundamentally pessimistic about the Dems,” saying a socially pragmatic left focused on economic populism would stand a far better chance than relying on “crazy people,” specifically citing AOC’s calls to “tax the rich and give all the money to transgender baseball players who prey on your kids.” (RELATED: Lawmakers Kill Legislation Barring Convicted Pedophiles From Running For Office)
“Half of that equation is very politically popular. The part where you allow those same billionaires that you’re taxing to get rich by selling unlicensed pharmaceutical products to 12-year-old minors to gender transition them? That’s the part that makes most Americans go, ‘What the hell are you talking about?'” Vance said. “And, by the way, are you actually against the rich when your social values and your cultural values happen to align with the CEOs of nearly every major corporation?”
Sydney Sweeney Struts in Micro Shorts in New 4th of July American Eagle Campaign After Controversy
Sydney Sweeney is back and better than ever in a new American Eagle ad.
Sweeney, 28, stunned in an all-denim look while posing on the beach for a 4th of July campaign, which launched on Wednesday, July 1. The Euphoria star rocked a denim Bow-Front Vest, which retails for $54.95, featuring adjustable halter straps, a plunging neckline and straps that tie in the front.
Sweeney paired the look with low-rise Micro Shorts ($49.95), which were complete with a dark wash and distressed finish.
For glam, the Anyone But You star stunned with dewy skin, sun-kissed cheeks, long lashes and lined, pink lips. Her blonde bob was parted down the middle and styled in beachy waves.
In one pic, the It Girl closed her eyes and beamed for the camera while sitting in the sand. She also looked over her shoulder in another pic, with her hands in the back pockets of her cheeky bottoms.
Sweeney also looked her best in a promotional video. In the clip, she danced on the beach while lighting sparklers. “Syd for Short,” a message across the screen read.
This isn’t the first time Sweeney has posed for American Eagle. In July 2025, she went under fire for modeling a denim jacket and pants with the double entendre, “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans.”
The statement quickly sparked debate about race and beauty standards for the double play on “genes.”
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Related: Sydney Sweeney Stuns in 2nd American Eagle Campaign Following Controversy
Sydney Sweeney has teamed up with American Eagle again for a sexy summer campaign following her previously controversial ad with the company. Sweeney, 28, posed for the brand’s “Syd for Short: American Eagle Jean Shorts” ad, which launched on Wednesday, April 15. In the campaign, the Euphoria actress looked her best in a pair of […]American Eagle responded to the backlash in August 2025, writing via Instagram, “‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story. We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
At the time, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that “Sydney thinks this whole thing has been blown out of proportion.”
The insider added, “She’s focusing her energy on work, including being back on set with her Euphoria family.” (The Euphoria season 3 finale aired on May 31.)
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Trump's Annual Earnings Skyrocketed to $2.2 Billion in 2025 ... for Some Reason
July 1, 2026
Making money is hard. Just ask Donald Trump. Back in 2022, House Democrats released years of the then-former and now-current president’s tax returns, which showed that Trump the entrepreneur was significantly less successful than The Art of the Deal would have you believe. They painted a picture of a floundering businessman who was doing his best to dodge taxes and scrape together income, something Trump mastered throughout his long career.
But now, it appears that Trump has finally found an industry that works: open corruption, crypto scams, and nepotistic crony capitalism that siphons off wealth, rakes in gifts, and feeds them into his personal coffers. He just needed to become president of the United States.
Trump revealed in financial disclosures this week that he has made $2.2 billion in 2025, up from $622 million in 2024, the year before he returned to the White House. The astronomical sum includes a diverse portfolio of investments and businesses, but is mostly comprised of one brazen cryptocurrency scam: World Liberty Financial, a crypto company that offers the $TRUMP memecoin. Trump made a staggering $1.4 billion on crypto last year, fueled both by getting his supporters to buy into $TRUMP and a massive private deal in which a UAE-linked investment firm paid almost $500 million for a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial.
But let’s break down what that means in simple terms. One: Trump sells a memecoin to his followers, using his personal social media channels to boost it. This is basically the same scam Trump has been running for years. If you’ve been on his mailing lists since 2016, you’ve been inundated with ads for physical Trump coins, digital trading cards, and all sorts of commemorative and allegedly collectible memorabilia. Crypto is essentially the same grift, with the added flavor that Trump can pass it off as an “investment” opportunity, something that may pay dividends for the everyday Americans who are duped into buying it. Trump has also taken a host of actions benefiting the crypto industry — and thus, his and his family’s finances — since retaking office, while touting the industry publicly.
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Trump claims that he isn’t “involved” in the running of these businesses, which is about as flimsy of an excuse as you can get. “We have funds that run that money,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Q: Your financial disclosure shows you had a very lucrative year last year. What message does this send to average Americans?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 1, 2026
TRUMP: Well, you know, I don't get involved. We have funds that run my money
Q: But you are benefitting. We're talking billions of dollars
TRUMP: Well… pic.twitter.com/y0CVPXc4NB
In reality, Trump and his family are the only ones getting rich. But it’s the other half of that windfall that’s even more concerning. While garden-variety crypto-grift is bad, the dark money investment in a Trump-owned company by a firm that is linked to the government of the UAE suggests that foreign influence could be playing a large role in the growth of Trump’s personal fortune. In other words, he’s basically getting a payout from the government of another nation.
This isn’t the first time Trump has engaged in open corruption with members of a foreign nation. His comments about his financial disclosure on Wednesday came on the tarmac in front of his new private plane, also known as Air Force One, which was paid for and gifted to him by the Qatari government, and retrofitted with hundreds of millions of taxpayer money.
“You want a Pulitzer Prize? A picture of the plane.” Trump joked.
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Trump took his first flight on the Qatari-gifted jet shortly after. “Frankly, we couldn’t build a plane like this because we wouldn’t be willing to spend the kind of money necessary,” Trump said. “They spent top dollars.”
The plane is valued at roughly $400 million. The government will not retain ownership of the plan after Trump leaves office. It will instead be gifted to his presidential library.
