Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) faced criticism online Thursday after arguing during a podcast appearance that billionaires do not legitimately earn their wealth and instead benefit from exploiting workers and economic systems.
The New York Democrat made the remarks during an appearance on comedian Ilana Glazer’s podcast, “It’s Open,” while discussing income inequality and corporate power in the US economy.
“You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the interview. “You can get market power, you can break rules, you can do all sorts of things.”
The congresswoman argued that extreme wealth accumulation depends on exploiting workers, violating labor protections or underpaying employees rather than individual productivity or entrepreneurship within the free market system.
“You can abuse labor laws, you can pay people less than what they’re worth,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the discussion. “But you can’t earn that, right?”
The Democrat later defended her comments in a post on X, arguing that wage theft represents one of the largest forms of financial harm affecting workers throughout the country each year.
“The single largest form of theft in America is wage theft,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote Thursday evening. “$50 billion a year are stolen from American workers.”
She also accused critics of attempting to distract from broader discussions about economic inequality and labor practices by attacking her personally rather than addressing the substance of her argument.
“Working people are getting screwed,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote while calling for what she described as a more serious discussion about abuses of economic and corporate power in the US.
The comments triggered immediate criticism from conservative commentators, business figures and social media users who argued the congresswoman was dismissing entrepreneurship and private-sector innovation.
Rafael Mangual of the Manhattan Institute responded on X by arguing that Ocasio-Cortez underestimated the capabilities and achievements of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders, as the New York Post reported.
“You can’t earn a billion dollars,” Mangual wrote while responding to the congresswoman’s remarks. “No, Alexandria … YOU can’t earn a billion dollars.”
Author Helen Raleigh also criticized Ocasio-Cortez, arguing socialists fail to understand how entrepreneurs build successful businesses by providing products and services consumers willingly purchase in the marketplace.
Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Erik Voorhees also criticized the Democrat and argued taxpayer-funded government salaries rely on money collected from working Americans through taxation.
“Her entire salary is stolen from people,” Voorhees wrote while responding to Ocasio-Cortez’s comments online following publication of the podcast interview and her subsequent social media posts.
Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, holds a degree in economics and international relations and has become one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent progressive lawmakers.
The congresswoman has frequently advocated for higher taxes on wealthy Americans, stronger labor protections and expanded federal social programs since first winning election to Congress in 2018.
Some political observers have speculated Ocasio-Cortez could pursue a presidential campaign in 2028 or potentially challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a future Democratic primary race.
