Bishop Robert Barron excoriates AOC for 'unapologetically Marxist' critique of West: 'A little concerned'

Bishop Robert Barron joined a chorus of criticism against statements by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., at the Munich Security Conference last week, and singled out a remark she made about Western culture that he warned is evidence of encroaching Marxism in the Democratic Party.

Barron, who has served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester since 2022, noted in a Monday social media post that Ocasio-Cortez was dismissive of Secretary of State Marco Rubio's address at the conference, during which he said the U.S. and Europe share a cultural identity built on Christianity.

Describing Rubio's idea of a shared Western culture as "thin," Ocasio-Cortez claimed during a subsequent panel that "culture, for the entire history of human civilization, has always been a fluid, evolving thing that responds to the conditions that we live in."

Barron praised Rubio's worldview, but discerned that Ocasio-Cortez's philosophy is "right out of the Marxist playbook" and increasingly shared by younger Democratic political leaders in the United States.

A recent statement by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez illuminates the Marxist ideology which continues to take hold of American politicians. Here are my thoughts. pic.twitter.com/Edgy0smzeb

— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) February 16, 2026

To overlook the legacy and lasting common threads of a culture simply because cultures change is "a banality," Barron said.

"Of course, cultures are alive; they change and evolve. Doesn't mean for a second we can't identify the key elements within a culture that gives it its character," he explained, adding that "to characterize culture as 'thin' is a Marxist movement" and mistakenly believes the basis of society is materialistic and class-based.

"Marx said that culture is simply an 'epiphenomenal superstructure' on top of the economic substructure; and don't be distracted, therefore, by the culture that's just protecting the economics at bottom."

Barron also said he is worried by "the extent to which political leadership on the left in America is becoming unapologetically Marxist." He mentioned 34-year-old New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's "warmth of collectivism" and policies Barron claimed are "right out of TheCommunist Manifesto." He urged followers of such figures to speak with the many who have fled communism, or who continue to suffer under it today.

Barron said he is also concerned as a bishop about the rising tide of Marxism in the Democratic Party, because the philosophy has historically made religion its prime target when it achieves power.

"The first thing that the Marxist tyrannies went after, in most cases, was religion," he said. "I'm getting a little concerned that, in some of these leading figures in our own politics, a Marxist philosophy is taking hold."

Ocasio-Cortez, who has been floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, has drawn scrutiny and scorn for other comments she made on the world stage in Munich, such as falsely claiming Venezuela is below the equator and deriding Rubio for tracing American cowboy culture to Spain.

"I believe the Mexicans and the descendants of African enslaved peoples would like to have a word," she said without elaborating. Modern horses are not indigenous to the Americas, and were first brought to the Western hemisphere on Spanish ships.

Ocasio-Cortez's incoherent answer on the issue of Taiwan prompted criticism even from her own side of the political aisle, prompting The New York Times to claim she brought a "working-class vision" to the conference "with some stumbles."

"It takes a major screwup for the New York Times to put in their story about AOC that she had, I think they said it was a 'stumble' or something. It had to be a really bad stumble," political analyst Mark Halperin said Monday on the 2Way podcast.

Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic political strategist, panned Ocasio-Cortez's performance, saying "she showed a complete lack of chops" and that "she's now given the opposition tons of ammunition to destroy her" if she runs for president.

President Donald Trump, a frequent Ocasio-Cortez critic, told reporters Monday on Air Force One that her appearance in Munich "was not a good look for the United States."

"She had no idea what was happening, she had no idea how to answer very important questions concerning the world," he added.