Participants of the Dem Young Summit call socialism, Rent AOC as the Future of the Party

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., and the Democratic candidate of the New York town hall, Zohran Mamdani, are the future of the Democratic Party, told Fox News Digital of young political activists of the voters of tomorrow in Washington, DC, DC. At the top, the participants expressed their enthusiasm for democratic socialist stars, but also underlined a question where they want a stronger and clearer position.

The event “Fighting for Our Future” on Friday July 25, presented more than 200 organizers of young people, leaders and progressive politicians, such as the representative Ro Khanna of California and the former vice-president of the DNC David Hogg. While the progressive wing of the party turns to a new leadership, a participant urged Ocasio-Cortez to become stronger about Gaza.

“I really like AOC,” said Reihena Djema, an Ohio participant, in Fox News Digital. “Unfortunately, I would like to see her stand up and get more vocal on Palestine. But other than that, I really think she should be the leader of the Democratic Party because she is a democratic socialist.”

Ocasio-Cortez made political waves when she welcomed Mamdani in the national capital for a skill sharing event behind closed doors with the Democrats of Congress on the way of carrying out a successful digital campaign. Self-proclaimed democratic socialists may have disappeared from Friday’s event, but their policies have infiltrated conversations at the top.

AOC, Sanders welcomes Mamdani to DC for his debut in Capitol Hill, urging the reluctant DEMS to “know it”

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., speaks to the NYCLU May Day rally for the rights of workers and immigrants in Foley Square, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in New York. (APPHOTE / Angelina Katsanis)

“I think more politicians should adopt socialism,” said Djema. “I think it is really important to be concerned about the class, and to withdraw from this neoliberal idea of what it is acceptable to do capitalism and to exploit workers, and I think that the Democratic Party should be the party for workers and seek more towards socialism.”

The AOC welcomes the socialist Mamdani in the national capital while the leaders DEM retain the endorsements

Mamdani was criticized by the conservatives and the moderates for his past anti -capitalist comments, including a suggestion old years to grasp the means of production.

And the own progressive basis of Ocasio-Cortez, including the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), criticized him for having voted against an amendment proposed by the representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA., To reduce $ 500 million in funding for Israel’s defense systems, which, according to the Democrat, does nothing to the assistance in Israel.

“If you say that I voted for military funding, you lie”, Ocasio-Cortez drawn on X. And she had previously specified: “I remain concentrated on the cut of the American ammunition flow which is used to perpetuate the genocide in Gaza.”

The Palestinians walk near the rubble of the buildings during the Eid Al-Adha holidays, in Gaza City, on June 6, 2025. (Reuters / Mahmoud Issa)

But his campaign office was then vandalized with red paint, reading “AOC finances the genocide in Gaza”.

“I think that it should be more expressed about what is happening in Gaza, by specifically condemning Israel for their genocide, and standing out,” said Djema, while adding that she thinks that Ocasio-Cortez is “brilliant”.

“Being a young person, a young voter, a student, seeing people like Zohran Mamdani and AOC, it is very stimulating to win much more establishment and much more recognition in the field of politicians,” Fox News Digital Fox News told.

Chowdry said there was a “stigma” around socialism, especially on the part of the conservatives, it is therefore optimistic and made it possible that “people really argue for very common policies”, such as health care for all and affordability.

New York Town Hall candidate Zohran Mamdani briefly speaks with journalists as he leaves the Dirksen Senate office building on July 16, 2025, in Washington, DC (Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)

“I think candidates like Zohran Mamdani and AOC are really inspiring to see. Someone like Mamdani, a Muslim like me, and Zainab here, it’s so inspiring to see. I think someone can take a lot of momentum. I think people are so excited,” Ayan Molodina, A second year student in Austin in Austin, Texas, told Fox News Digital.

Molodina said that people in Texas are “drawn” about Mamdani, adding: “I think it is proof that people are ready to change, and I think it brings this new perspective that people are looking for.”

Deon Tran, a young California voter, admitted that “yes, sometimes, many of these policies seem there. They had not been tried before.”

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., is addressed to the road to the final event of Green New Deal Tour at Howard University in Washington, on Monday May 13, 2019. (Photo / cliff Owen)

But Tran told Fox News Digital that young voters “need politicians and leaders who are ready to fail and who are ready to try, at the very least, instead of sticking to institutional traditions”.

The Californian praised Ocasio-Cortez’s support for the failure of Green New Deal and the emphasis put by Mamdani on the cost of living.

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And Ashi, another Californian who represented the section of his state to the voters of tomorrow, said that young voters were looking for “fresh thinkers” and managers who can deliver for American Americans.

“To a certain extent, that’s probably why many of these young voters really resonate with AOC and people like Zohran Mamdani,” she added.

Fox News Digital contacted the Ocasio-Cortez office concerning the involvement it does more for Gaza.