In the NPR interview, host Steve Inskeep asked AOC to describe the current state of the Democratic Party, asking if Rep. Ocasio-Cortez believed that the left was “on the defensive.” AOC gave a predictably obtuse response, saying, “I think we’ve moved through shock. I think we’ve moved through dismay. I think we’ve moved through the five stages of grief.”

Continuing, AOC insisted that the Republican Party is currently making “certain large errors,” going on to criticize President Trump’s policies, saying, “They also directly appeal to very specific pockets of people who tend to be working class, and that creates a permission structure, right? You toss a crumb to us, and you give the farm to the big fish.”

Attempting to get AOC back on track, Inskeep asked the representative about the rationale behind her recent immigration-focused online forum, which was the crux of a debate between Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and Tom Homan. In response, AOC defended herself, saying, “I was informing all of my constituents of their constitutional protections and, in particular, their Constitutional protections against illegal search and seizure in the United States.”

Playing the Devil’s advocate, Inskeep explained President Trump’s Border Czar’s criticism of AOC’s forum, clarifying to AOC, “Homan was upset, I suppose, because he felt that you were giving advice to people who were here illegally. Were you?” Responding, AOC said, “I was giving advice to all of my constituents, yeah.”

AOC’s brazen admission of giving out potentially illegal advice online drew ire from X user Matt Van Swol, who clarified that AOC’s statements were in violation of a Constitutional statute: “Harboring or Encouraging Illegal Presence, 8 U.S.C. § 1324.” He wrote, “If AOC’s advice is specific enough, it’s a crime under this statute.”