Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), an outspoken opponent against what she describes as rich elites, stayed at several swanky hotels while rallying across the country with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, a Washington Examiner review of the congresswoman’s campaign spending receipts has found.
According to Federal Election Commission filings, her high-end hotel stays, which coincided with stretches of the Democratic Socialist duo’s cross-country trek to rail against the ultrawealthy, cost thousands of dollars in campaign funds.
Ocasio-Cortez’s spending spree at opulent locales appears to conflict with the congresswoman’s rhetoric about class disparity, an anti-affluence message she repeatedly delivered during the tour.
In mid-March, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign splurged $3,508.92 on a stay at Vdara Hotel & Spa, a luxury property situated on the Las Vegas strip in Paradise, Nevada. Equipped with a five-star spa, the MGM resort boasts roomside views of the famous Bellagio fountain, executive-level corner suites, and bookable penthouses.
Days before the donor-funded disbursement date, as listed later in an expenditure report, Ocasio-Cortez appeared alongside Sanders at a stop in North Las Vegas, where they both bashed the luxurious lifestyles of billionaires and “oligarchs” purportedly taking over the country.
“We are witnessing an oligarchy in America,” claimed Ocasio-Cortez. “That is when those with the most economic, political, and technological power destroy the public good to enrich themselves while millions of Americans pay the price.”
Speaking on access to affordable housing and income inequality among working-class Americans, she said, “We don’t have to live like this anymore, Las Vegas. We deserve better than this, Las Vegas.”
Ocasio-Cortez was photographed flying first-class to the Las Vegas town hall. According to a passenger who spotted her aboard the plane, the congressional representative had ignored a friendly greeting from the economy-cabin flier.
In April, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign spent another $3,445.59 on a sojourn at Asher Adams, Autograph Collection, an upscale mountain-area escape in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Retrofitted from a historical railroad station, the train-themed hotel houses a fine dining restaurant offering wine as pricey as $900 a bottle, lobster towers, and $95 caviar for appetizers. Reminiscent of the golden age of train travel, the hotel bar, which overlooks the Wasatch Mountains, is adorned with the original stained-glass windows and terrazzo floors of the Union Pacific Depot.
Ocasio-Cortez reported the travel expense shortly after a one-day Salt Lake City rally with Sanders. There, they preached about the plight of “everyday, working Americans like us” struggling to make ends meet.
BERNIE SANDERS & AOC ‘PREACHING TO THE CHOIR’ WITH OLIGARCHY TOUR: SALENA ZITO
The following day, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders joined forces again at a “Fight the Oligarchy” junket in Nampa, Idaho, approximately a half-hour drive from nearby Boise, to call for a federal “living” minimum wage and lament rising rent costs nationwide.
Around this time, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign disclosed spending $1,534.90 at the award-winning Hotel Renegade in downtown Boise. A newly built boutique getaway inhabiting over 5,100 square feet of event space, including a rooftop ballroom, Hotel Renegade has received AAA’s distinguished four-diamond rating.
Sanders, the congresswoman’s travel companion and fellow climate change activist against carbon fuels, previously faced criticism for spending more than $221,723 on private jet flights over the course of their anti-oligarchy campaign.
An unapologetic Sanders, pressed by Fox News host Bret Baier to defend his penchant for private planes, said that he has to fly non-commercial to appear at multiple rallies within a week’s span. According to Sanders, the public depends on his timely arrival.
“Think I’m going to be sitting on a waiting line at United [Airlines] while 30,000 people are waiting?” Sanders said, referring to an expectant audience. “That’s the only way you can get around. No apologies for that. That’s what campaign travel is about. We have done it in the past, and we’re going to do it in the future.”
BERNIE SANDERS: RIDE PRIVATE JETS? I DO IT FOR THE PEOPLE
After the initial outcry, Sanders continued jetting himself around the country. Between April and June, the senator’s campaign committee paid Ventura Jets, a private airline charter on Long Island, an additional total of $229,173, according to campaign disclosure data reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
On another leg of the tour, Sanders spent $260 on a limousine service in Montana. At the time, Sanders told a crowd of supporters in Missoula that “the richest people in America are becoming much richer” as 800,000 homeless Americans “sleep out on the street.”
The senator’s net worth, meanwhile, makes him a multi-millionaire. In 2019, Forbes magazine reported that Sanders, an owner of three homes, amassed a $2.5 million fortune from real estate, investments, government pensions, and book earnings.
On the fundraising front, Ocasio-Cortez has outraised her congressional counterparts by a wide margin, with a whopping $15.4 million accrued in contributions this election cycle, well ahead of the 2026 midterms.
AOC HAS THE MOST CAMPAIGN MONEY IN THE HOUSE WITH $15.4 MILLION WAR CHEST
Her record-breaking haul has left some observers speculating that Ocasio-Cortez may be eyeing higher office, whether that be a seat in the Senate or a White House run in 2028. Many left-wing media outlets have touted her as a top presidential contender.
The Washington Examiner contacted Ocasio-Cortez’s and Sanders’s campaigns for comment.
