AOC smacked with ultimate insult from fresh-faced young Democrat snapping at her heels

Daily Mail​

15-07-2025

The Gen-Z social media star hoping to run for Congress this year has taken a swipe at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for being out of touch with young voters.
Deja Foxx, 25, has been dubbed 'the next AOC' - but she rejected the comparison on Tuesday, saying she represents 'a generation who has a different kind of urgency'.
She spoke with the Daily Beast ahead of the Democratic primary election in Arizona 's 7th district, where five hopefuls are running to represent the party.
If selected by Democrat voters on Tuesday and by Arizona residents in the September election, Foxx would become the youngest person elected to Congress.
Though her chances are low according to polls, AOC overcame huge odds to defeat Congressman Joe Crowley in 2019 when she was just four years older than Foxx.
Foxx hopes to replicate this success, but she did not welcome comparisons with the New York 'Squad' member when quizzed about it ahead of the Democratic primary.
'I remember when she was elected. I was just a teenager,' Foxx told the Daily Beast. 'Now I'm old enough to run for Congress. And we are in a very different place.'
'I represent a generation who has a different kind of urgency and a different skill set, a different way of communicating,' the Filipino-American candidate added.
'And right now, the Democrats, for the very first time in decades, have lost ground with young people.
'If we do not get serious about the ways we are communicating with them, talking to them, we are going to be in a really bad spot in 2026 and 2028, and we can't afford that.
'Families like mine who rely on the social services Donald Trump is trying to cut, things like Medicaid, SNAP benefits, cannot afford another loss.'
Foxx's blistering assessment of her party could easily be interpreted as a damning takedown of AOC. Many of the star congresswoman's supporters claim she has deserted her original progressive mission and is now too much of a centrist.
Foxx grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where she was raised by a single mother in Section 8 housing.
The family relied on food stamps, and Foxx moved out at the age of 15 to sleep on friends' couches while her mother struggled with mental illness and addiction.
Foxx was a rising star in high school, where she campaigned to modernize the sex education curriculum and founded a community project to provide reproductive healthcare to young people in Tucson.
She overcame the odds to secure a scholarship at Columbia University in New York City in 2018, and she made the dean's list for her academic performance.
While at Columbia, Foxx joined Kamala Harris' first run for the presidency in 2020 and went on to lead her campaign influencer strategy at the age of just 19.
Now she's running in the Arizona special election after the incumbent Congressman Raúl Grijalva died of lung cancer in March after 12 terms in office.
Foxx is running against the late Congressman's daughter, Adelita Grijalva, who has been endorsed by AOC and Bernie Sanders, along with three more candidates.
Patrick Harris Sr, Daniel Hernandez Jr and Jose Maldivo Jr are also running in the primary. Voters hit the polls on Tuesday, and the result will be announced in the coming days.
Foxx told Teen Vogue she had been hoping to run for Congress in 2026, but she seized the opportunity to make an earlier bid in what she called her 'crashout or Congress' scheme.
She said she decided to run because her 'lived experience differentiates me from people in the field' and because 'we need young people with a real sense of urgency at this moment'.
After Harris lost the 2024 election in a landslide, Foxx also said she wanted to run for Congress because she 'felt a deep sense of responsibility.'
'It wasn't enough for me to just work the behind the scenes of campaigns or in front of the cameras,' she said, adding: 'I needed to give them someone they could get excited about, or we would stand to lose our generation.'
Foxx's policy proposals include investing in the construction of 12 million new social housing units and improving the current stock of social housing, per her website.
The page adds that she wants to provide childcare support for low-income families, raise the minimum wage to $17 per hour and eliminate the tipped minimum wage.
Foxx has also pledged to sponsor the Social Security Expansion Act to increase Social Security benefits, and 'make the wealthiest Americans chip in their fair share'.