‘Looks down on working-class people’: AOC has swift response to Ted Cruz criticizing her work as a waitress
He seems to have messed with the wrong woman
A social media clip from May 2026 is gaining renewed attention amid the public’s growing criticism of United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC). In it, Cortez is asked to respond to Ted Cruz’s comments about her former job as a bartender.
For context, in early May 2026, Cruz, speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, said about AOC, “I recognize for her, given that she was a bartender, that is probably true, and there is no disrespect to bartenders.” He continued, “Bartenders are an honorable profession. But she went from that to being a government employee and a parasite sucking on the taxpayer.”
“Ted Cruz called you a parasite and disparaged your work as a bartender,” the reporter said. Responding to it AOC said, “I mean, listen, there’s no…it’s not a secret…the disdain that Ted Cruz has for people who work working class jobs. It’s not a secret that…you know what he thinks of the waitresses, the line cooks, he thinks that we’re less than him.”
She continued, “He thinks that because he has a Harvard degree and never scrubbed a table… that makes him better than someone who’s actually had to work for a living.” AOC also took aim at Cruz’s privileged background, noting that he has been on the government’s payroll for several years and was criticizing someone who had to climb up the economic ladder.
“And I think it’s funny that he’s been taking a government paycheck for 23 years.” She added, “…But has the audacity to criticize someone who has come from a family um that had to work their way up and earn their place here.”
AOC worked as a bartender to support her family during a time of crisis
A website detailing AOC early life mentions that after 2008, her father unexpectedly died of cancer, placing a significant financial and emotional strain on the family. It also notes that escalating medical bills and other rising expenses threatened their home with foreclosure. Additionally, the site highlights her hard work, as AOC took extra shifts as a waitress and bartender “to support her family, deepening her commitment to issues impacting working-class people.”
AOC has openly shared her working-class background and emphasized the need to tax the rich, which initially contributed to her popularity. Recently, she used social media to talk about her roots and the family struggles caused by her father’s illness.
She wrote, “I grew up in a working-class family. My mom cleaned houses, and my dad worked to build a small business. They worked themselves to the bone so that my brother and I could have a shot at making it….. We had a home, bills were a little less stressful, and I was doing well in school. What may have looked like a modest life to others was a dream come true for us.”
AOC also spoke about not taking any money from lobbyists and organizations and urged her supporters to pitch in $5 or $20 so that she could win the elections in November.
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