This fundraiser is for the birds.
Power-hungry “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) cooked up a new way to have her cake and eat it too this Thanksgiving – by tying her annual turkey giveaway to her massive reelection campaign enterprise. And critics are crying fowl.
“Thanksgiving is two weeks away,” the self-described “Bronx girl” wrote in an email pitch last week. “Will you chip in $5 or anything you can today to help us bring the joy of the holiday season into homes around NYC this year?”
But clicking on the contribution link sends people directly to a campaign fundraising page operated by ActBlue, where donors are prompted to make a one-time or recurring monthly donation.
Selecting a dollar amount brings a disclosure that the appeal is “paid for by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress” and a reminder that donations are not deductible as charitable contributions at tax time.
Like dozens of pols across Gotham, AOC has given away hundreds of gobblers since 2019, but as rumors swirl about her run for Senate or even the White House in 2028, she decided to change her fundraising recipe.
Instead of having supporters send donations directly to community organizations organizing turkey drives — like she did in 2021 when she reported raising $33,589.64 for three local charities — she’s having people send money to her campaign.
“A campaign is not supposed to be a pass-through for charitable work,” said former City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli. “What if she raised enough money for a million turkeys? Would she buy a million turkeys, or would she keep $990,000 for her campaign and then throw the rest of the turkeys out the back of a truck and take a photo-op?
“This is a clear case of why a campaign is not a charitable organization,” he added.
City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) — who’s hosted turkey drives of his own without seeking donations from the public — agreed.
“Socialists like AOC and Mamdani love to promise everything for free, but somehow it always ends with them shaking down working people under the guise of community good will,” he told The Post.
“It is a typical bait and switch, pretending to be for the people while quietly pillaging them for every dollar they can get.”
Of the more than a dozen NYC politicians with annual turkey drives reviewed by The Post, only two — AOC and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) — used campaign funds, and AOC was the only one to beg constituents for money. Meeks has been named the most corrupt member of Congress several years in a row.
Others instead coordinate between local charities, community groups or grocery stores donating the birds, and constituents in need. City Council Member Sandra Ung (D-Flushing), for example, handed out 526 turkeys last year donated by area businesses.
A review of Federal Election Commission data for 2024 reveals AOC’s campaign did make a $13,101 purchase at Westside Foods in the Bronx three days before Thanksgiving – possibly to procure the birds.
“She’s pitching: give it to me to help out people, and then it says it’s going to her benefit,” said Paul Kamenar of the National Legal and Policy Center. It’s a “shady deal she’s cooking up here. It appears that AOC’s turkey giveaway project may be a fraudulent scheme to solicit donations for her campaign.”
“Clearly, a full investigation and audit need to be conducted.”
The FEC told The Post politicians who solicit donations on behalf of community organizations – like AOC did in her email blast – are not required to disclose how much they raise through the solicitation or how they spend those specific funds — meaning there’s no official way to know how many of those dollars turn into actual turkeys, or if voters are just getting stuffed.
AOC’s campaign refused to explain why it changed its recipe this time.
“For our Thanksgiving turkey fundraiser, we set a goal that we raise towards and if we surpass it then we order more,” said her campaign manager Oliver Hidalgo-Wohlleben.
The rep boasted about her turkey giveaway Saturday in an Instagram video.
“I want to talk to you all about all the contributions you’ve made,” she tells her 9.5 million followers in a story.
“We’ve been able to provide over 1,600 turkeys in the Bronx, and then all of your support and fundraising has raised an additional $20,000 above our raise goal which we are giving 100% to local food pantries to help feed families this Thanksgiving.”
But in past years, AOC only came up with fuzzy math when she talked turkey. She said in her online pitch this year that she handed out 600 turkeys in 2024. But in her campaign video from that year the number was up to 1,000 gobblers. She put her 2021 bird number at 650.
Her campaign did not directly respond to follow-up questions about the discrepancies.
“Ocasio-Cortez is running a con under the guise of a charity drive,” slammed Kiersten Pels, spokesperson for the Republican National Committee.
“Slapping a ‘turkey’ label on a campaign fundraiser to trick voters into thinking they’re helping charities is exactly the kind of scam that she and the socialist wing of the Democratic Party rely on.”
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