A video showing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York taking part in Muslim Eid al-Adha celebrations while covering her hair with a hijab has drawn mockery and criticism from conservatives over the past day. Some have accused her of hypocrisy for her willingness to wear the headscarf after years of constantly warning that the United States is becoming a patriarchal dictatorship that oppresses women.
The video was filmed at Eid al-Adha celebrations in the Bronx, New York, parts of which are in Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional district, where she has repeatedly won election to the House since 2018. Ocasio-Cortez, widely known as AOC, has become a leading figure in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and is mentioned as a possible future presidential contender, perhaps as early as 2028.
The video that angered conservatives: AOC in a hijab on Eid al-Adha
(Video: From the social network X)
In the Bronx video, Ocasio-Cortez is seen speaking onstage, with newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani behind her. Mamdani, a Muslim and anti-Israel politician, wore a kurta, a traditional garment commonly worn by Muslims in India and Bangladesh, designed like the uniform of his favorite soccer team, Arsenal, which won the English championship last week.
The sight of Ocasio-Cortez speaking while wrapped in a hijab drew criticism from conservative users on social media, some of whom accused her and the radical left of hypocrisy.
“AOC wearing a hijab exposes the total moral bankruptcy of the radical left,” one angry X user wrote, according to the Daily Mail. “This theatrical Marxist simpleton screams about patriarchy while cosplaying in a garment mandated by brutal theocracies. Iranian morality police execute women over this exact covering," the user's tweet continued.
'Yet this lobotomized progressive parasite treats their subjugation as a trendy accessory.”
3 View gallery
AOC in a hijab and Zohran Mamdani in a kurta Muslim garment at Eid al-Adha celebrations in the Bronx
The British Daily Mail also cited another user, who wrote: “You’re the woman who tried to convince other women that the U.S. was becoming Gilead, and they needed to fight to not become Handmaids.” The term “Gilead,” refers to the Republic of Gilead, the fictional totalitarian patriarchal theocracy in Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
“You have just accepted, endorsed, and wore the clothes required to be one. You are Gilead now. You are telling other women to be Handmaids.”
3 View gallery
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani listens to AOC at Eid al-Adha celebrations in the Bronx
Others defended Ocasio-Cortez. “Oh no, someone's showing respect to a religion in the most diverse city in the country. WHATEVER SHOULD WE DO?!” one X user wrote. “Turning a simple Eid gesture into full treason meltdown? Peak fragile outrage addiction," another user said. "That’s not exposing pandering - it's your crew’s xenophobia jones flaring for cheap clicks while real problems get ignored. Stay pressed, clowns."