Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is positioning herself in a leading role among Democrats as discontent grows among the party’s base in the second Trump era.

Ocasio-Cortez is on the road with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as part of their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour aimed at rallying Democrats. The progressive congresswoman has also been one of the loudest critics of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) decision to vote for a House GOP-drafted government funding bill last week, so much so that she’s been floated as a potential primary challenger against him.

While Ocasio-Cortez has given no indication that she would primary Schumer, her high profile and vocal criticism of the party’s status quo positions her as someone who could fill what critics say is a leadership vacuum within the party.

“Some of the most effective, strategic and response leadership happening in this moment is coming from Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and she’s doing it better than many Democrats that we see nationally,” said Abbas Alawieh, a senior progressive strategist. “She is reminding the party what real leadership that is responsive to the energy of movements actually looks like.”

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez held their first joint rally on Thursday, taking aim at tech billionaire Elon Musk and Republican members of Congress.

The series of rallies come as angry constituents have voiced frustrations with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle during town halls over........

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