Ex-AOC Ally Turns Critic, Warns Young NYC Voters Against Socialist “Fantasy” After Mamdani Win

By: Carl Schwartzbaum

In the wake of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s surprise victory in a recent New York City primary, a former progressive insider has issued a cautionary message to young voters captivated by leftist promises: “Grow up.”

Lucy Biggers, a media professional who once helped propel Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) to political stardom, has come forward with a frank and sobering reassessment of her former beliefs. In a video posted last week to X, Biggers expressed deep concern over what she sees as the growing naivety of Generation Z voters who are, in her view, being seduced by the “glorification of socialism.”

As The New York Post reported on Saturday, Biggers’ comments are making waves not just for their bluntness, but for their authenticity. Her personal evolution — from progressive campaign booster to disillusioned skeptic — reflects a broader political realignment happening among many moderate-leaning millennials now stepping into roles as homeowners, parents, and taxpayers.

When I was 25, I would’ve been obsessed with Zohran Mamdani.

At 27, I helped get AOC elected. I made a viral video about her campaign, met her a bunch of times, and was totally bought in.

Now I’m 35, and I’ve grown up. The feel-good promises of free college, free food, free… pic.twitter.com/niZcmitbKC

— Lucy Biggers (@LLBiggers) June 25, 2025

“I met AOC when she was basically a nobody,” Biggers told The New York Post. “And I really thought she had something special going on, so I booked her for an interview at our studios.”

That 2018 video interview, produced for progressive media outlet NowThis, helped catapult Ocasio-Cortez from obscurity into the national spotlight. “The video got her message out. At that time, no one cared about AOC, she was not on cable news,” Biggers recalled.

Indeed, The New York Post report noted that the video ultimately became a de facto campaign asset. AOC’s team downloaded the clip and used it as a digital ad — a savvy move that coincided with her shocking primary upset over ten-term incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th Congressional District.

But nearly seven years later, Biggers is taking a far more critical view of the movement she once helped foster.

“If I was 25, I would’ve been obsessed with Zohran,” she admitted in her video. “Now I’m 35, and I’ve grown up. The feel-good promises of free college, free food, free housing might sound great, but they don’t work.”

Part 2: My Influences That Made Me Question the Climate Alarmism Narrative

Today I want to share some of the influences that helped me wake up to the fact that the climate movement is pushing an alarmist narrative that’s doing more harm than good.

Right now, most young people… pic.twitter.com/9pPpUzGwGw

— Lucy Biggers (@LLBiggers) June 29, 2025

Biggers told The Post that the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the spiraling effects of unchecked government spending, prompted a reassessment of her own political convictions. Now a homeowner and mother of two living in Connecticut but working in Manhattan, she describes her transformation as a matter of maturity and lived experience.

“You can’t sell this bill of goods that promises to create a utopia in America,” she explained. “As you grow up, you start to see the world less in black and white.”

In her view, the socialist economic model, while emotionally appealing, is fiscally unsustainable and morally disorienting. “There’s a glorification of socialism among young people,” she said. “They don’t know what happened in Cuba, Venezuela, the USSR. They glamorize these countries and are indoctrinated into thinking the U.S. is bad. It’s very naive . . . it’s embarrassing.”

The New York Post reported that her concerns mirror what many in the political center — and even on the right — have expressed in recent years: that a rising tide of ideological purity among young progressives threatens to undermine practical governance in cities already facing economic decline, rising crime, and surging taxes.

Zohran Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman and one of the most visible faces of Democratic Socialism in New York, won his Democratic primary handily, fueled by strong support among young, urban voters energized by leftist causes. His campaign, described by many — including Biggers herself — as “impressively executed,” championed aggressive housing reform, expanded social services, and redistributive taxation.

“Voter energy behind Mamdani is authentic,” Biggers acknowledged in her remarks to The New York Post. “He ran a really great campaign honestly.”

But she did not mince words in her criticism of the platform itself: “It’s young people who want to make a change. But I just think it’s selling a fantasy that ultimately doesn’t work.”

As The New York Post has reported, Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez are part of a larger cohort of progressive lawmakers pushing for transformative — and expensive — government programs in a city already struggling with budget shortfalls, outmigration, and economic stagnation. Critics warn that the policies favored by Democratic Socialists could accelerate the exodus of wealthy residents, businesses, and job creators — leaving the city with shrinking revenues and growing welfare demands.

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Biggers quipped, encapsulating her belief that idealism without realism leads to policy failure.

Her critique finds echoes in recent editorials by The New York Post, which has long tracked the socioeconomic fallout of progressive governance in New York. From declining public safety to surging rent burdens and faltering public schools, the city’s mounting crises often serve as cautionary tales in the paper’s coverage.

Today, Biggers works as the social media editor for The Free Press, a platform known for giving voice to heterodox thinkers across the political spectrum. Her break from progressive orthodoxy is emblematic of a broader generational shift: former activists and idealists, now confronting the complexities of adulthood, are reevaluating once-cherished ideological frameworks.

Asked by The New York Post whether she regrets boosting AOC’s rise in 2018, Biggers was diplomatic but reflective: “At the time, it felt like the right thing. But time has a way of clarifying things. And I think we’re seeing the consequences of some of those ideas now.”

Despite mounting questions about the sustainability of their political agendas, both Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani declined to comment when reached by The New York Post. For critics like Biggers, that silence only reinforces her warning: that behind the glossy slogans and activist fervor lies a movement unprepared to reckon with its own consequences.

As New York’s Democratic Party continues to veer left, Biggers’ candid testimony stands as both a personal reckoning and a public caution: “Socialist policies don’t lead to paradise,” she concluded. “They lead to people leaving. And what’s left behind isn’t justice — it’s decline.”