The New York socialist couldn’t give a straight answer on who deserves your healthcare dollars.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) repeatedly sidestepped a simple question Wednesday night about whether illegal immigrants should receive taxpayer-funded healthcare during a CNN town hall.
The far-left congresswoman — still floated by progressives as a possible 2028 presidential hopeful or even a primary challenger to Sen. Chuck Schumer — appeared alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to discuss the ongoing government shutdown.
A viewer identified as Jill Ireland, a California Democrat who works in insurance, asked:
“Do you think taxpayers should be paying for the medical care of immigrants who are in the country illegally?”
Ocasio-Cortez deflected, accusing Republicans of spreading a “common lie” that Democrats want to shut down the government to provide free healthcare for illegal immigrants.
“We already know that it’s federal law and federal statute that undocumented people cannot be covered by the [Affordable Care Act], they cannot be covered by Medicaid, they cannot be covered by Medicare. Period,” she said.
The Squad member then turned her fire on Vice President JD Vance, claiming he was “trafficking this other misconception” about emergency Medicaid programs — calling it “whole cloth storytelling.”
She continued:
“The truth of the matter is we have a federal law, as it should be, that any person who walks into a hospital in desperate need of medical attention receives that medical attention regardless of their insurance status, and regardless of who they are.”
Pressed by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on whether taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants should be the law, Ocasio-Cortez again dodged.
“I believe, personally, that healthcare is a human right,” she said. “I believe that every person should be able to go to the doctor. But I believe that right now, federal law is the federal law.”
When Collins pressed again — “If you could choose, do you believe that the federal law should be changed from that?” — Ocasio-Cortez ducked a third time.
“I don’t — I believe in a single-payer healthcare system, where if you go in and you need a doctor, you can get the medical attention that you need,” she replied.
Watch the clip above.
Thank you for visiting