A lot has happened with just a few days into President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. There’s been ICE raids across the country, threats of tariffs to some of our closest political and commercial partners and intensifying rhetoric against the trans population and more.

Read the episode transcript here.

So, on today’s episode of Latino USA, host Maria Hinojosa sits down with someone who has sounded off on Trump for years, as well as her own Democratic Party: New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“I think structurally, overall, the Democratic Party has this confused message,” she told Latino USA. “We’re supposed to be a party of the working class and I think working-class people have not been seeing government work for them, despite a lot of the things that the Biden administration did do.”

Maria and the congresswoman best known as AOC discuss what went wrong for Democrats in 2024 and how the party can win back voters. They also reflect on the beauty and value that immigrants bring to the United States, and analyze the new geopolitics of Latin America and much more.

“For all of the people who cast a vote based on grocery prices and inflation, if you think your groceries are expensive now, wait until the farms are empty,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Understand the consequences of what this means because for America to not accept immigrants is the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.”

You can also watch the interview below.

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This episode was produced by Reynaldo Leaños Jr. It was edited by Andrea López-Cruzado, with production assistance by Roxana Aguirre. It was mixed by Stephanie Lebow, Julia Caruso, and J.J. Querubin.

Featured image by AP Photo/Brynn Anderson.