Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has voiced support for Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) activists, identifying a shared concern over the nation's healthcare system that she believes transcends political divides. Ocasio-Cortez stated during an appearance on "The Majority Report with Sam Seder" podcast that she collaborates with MAHA advocates, emphasizing that their efforts are not inherently partisan.
"A lot of them really don't believe that their fight is partisan — and it's not in many ways," Ocasio-Cortez said. She pointed to widespread "anxiety" among minority and low-income groups regarding the healthcare system.
Ocasio-Cortez echoed sentiments that align with the MAHA movement's platform, which has emerged from public discontent with existing healthcare policies. She noted what she described as significant corruption within the agricultural and corporate sectors, suggesting these issues have compromised the political system across party lines.
"We do have extraordinary corruption in our agricultural system, in our big corporate system as well, you know," Ocasio-Cortez stated. "This is an area where both parties — and our entire political system — has been compromised."
The congresswoman drew parallels to her previous work investigating PFAS, or "forever chemicals," in communities. She described a pattern where corporations allegedly dump toxic byproducts and then influence the political class to overlook or shield them from accountability.
Beyond environmental contaminants, Ocasio-Cortez identified the rising cost of healthcare and a general distrust of the system as key drivers for the MAHA movement's growing appeal. She suggested that anxieties about affordability and preventing illness are deeply felt by working people.
"So it's also like, ‘How do I stop being sick?’ How do I prevent being sick by limiting my exposure to things that I think are toxic?" she asked. "And then also when I do get sick, and I can't afford medicine, what are the holistic and low-cost alternatives that I can turn to, because I know that I can't afford to see a doctor? And that is a place of tremendous vulnerability that people feel that is immensely legitimate."
Ocasio-Cortez also highlighted racial disparities within the healthcare system, referencing historical mistreatment of minority communities, including forced sterilizations of women and vaccine hesitancy in the Black community. She stated that such a history contributes to a valid lack of trust in institutions.
"If you add the racial component too — I'm Puerto Rican, the United States sterilized women for decades," Ocasio-Cortez said. "And so you have COVID, you have vaccines and obviously in the Black community, same thing."
Jason Mudd, CEO of Axia Public Relations, commented that Ocasio-Cortez's approach is about finding shared grievances rather than political conversion. "She's not trying to win MAHA activists over to her politics. She's finding the one grievance both sides already share: people don't trust the system that's supposed to protect them, and they can't afford to get sick," Mudd told Fox News Digital. "That's not a left issue or a right issue. That's every American's issue."