AOC laughs when asked if she’d date a Republican, then gives a straight answer

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez found herself answering a rather personal question on Capitol Hill this week when a TMZ reporter asked whether she would ever date a conservative.

The Democratic lawmaker initially burst out laughing when TMZ reporter Charlie Cotton approached her on Tuesday, September 1, with the unexpected question.

But after being pressed for an answer, Ocasio-Cortez admitted that dating someone conservative is “probably not” something she would consider.

The video below shows Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laughing off a question about whether she would date a conservative before explaining why shared values matter to her.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laughs off question about dating a conservative

Cotton first asked Ocasio-Cortez, “Would you ever date a conservative?” The question immediately had her laughing. He followed up by asking, “Is that anything you would ever entertain?”

After gathering herself, Ocasio-Cortez gave a simple answer: “I have to say it’s uh, probably not.” This answer only made her laugh harder.

Cotton then asked, “Don’t date across the aisle?” This time, Ocasio-Cortez offered a little more insight into where she stands.

“No, no foul to people who do,” she said. “And of course, how you define that is very different from person to person, right?” But for Ocasio-Cortez, there is more to it than simply being on opposite sides of the political aisle.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says shared values matter in relationships

Ocasio-Cortez explained that politics can often come down to personal values, making that alignment important when it comes to relationships.

“But I think a lot of politics sometimes, at least for me, is about values, and being aligned in values I think is tremendously important,” she said.

Her candid response comes as the New York congresswoman’s personal life has been receiving plenty of attention in recent weeks.

In August, Ocasio-Cortez revealed that she was freezing her eggs. A few days later, TMZ reported that she had broken up with her longtime fiance, Riley Roberts.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez opens up about family and politics

Ocasio-Cortez has also spoken about the negativity she faced after sharing her decision to freeze her eggs.

“I was born a woman, period,” she said on Instagram. “And I have no control over that, and I wouldn’t want to change that.”

She added that any judgment she received was something she would face for being a woman, regardless of whether she had shared the decision publicly.

“So I might as well help others,” she said.

Speaking to TMZ on Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez also said she had been “very concerned” for years about having a child while holding public office. She pointed to the high cost of necessities such as childcare as one of the reasons behind those concerns.

However, she suggested that she is now more open to figuring out how to balance a political career with having a family.