AOC’s Campaign Faces Backlash for Spending Thousands on Luxury Hotels

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have drawn massive crowds to their “Fighting Oligarchy” tour, a nationwide series of rallies aimed at mobilizing progressives against corporate greed and the billionaire class.

Since launching earlier this year, the tour has hosted 34 events across 20 states, attracting over 300,000 attendees.

However, recent Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign disbursed thousands of dollars on luxury hotels during the West Coast leg of the tour, raising questions about consistency with the anti-elite messaging.

The expenditures, first highlighted by the Washington Examiner, coincide with high-profile stops where Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders decried oligarchic influence in American politics.

Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign has not responded to requests for comment on the spending.

Campaign finance reports detail payments to several boutique and high-end properties, often shortly after rallies in the same cities.

Here’s a summary of the disclosed disbursements:

These hotels are known for premium amenities: Vdara offers five-star spa services and penthouse suites with views of the Las Vegas Strip; Asher Adams features fine dining with items like $900 wine bottles and caviar appetizers, plus panoramic mountain views; Leo Kent is a boutique high-rise; and Hotel Renegade boasts a AAA four-diamond rating with rooftop event spaces.

Baseline room rates at these properties can exceed $1,000 per night, though it’s unclear if the bills covered multiple rooms for staff or additional services.

Additional filings show payments to other upscale spots, including CitizenM in California, Hotel Vermont, and Lansdowne Resort and Spa in Virginia, though not all are directly linked to the tour.

Tour Highlights: Massive Turnouts and Fiery Rhetoric Against the Elite

The “Fighting Oligarchy” events have generated significant buzz, with stops in cities like Los Angeles (April 12, 2025), Denver (March 21, 2025), and McAllen, Texas (June 20, 2025).

At the North Las Vegas rally, Ocasio-Cortez declared, “We are witnessing an oligarchy in America,” emphasizing affordable housing and income inequality: “We don’t have to live like this anymore, Las Vegas.

We deserve better than this.”

In Salt Lake City, she and Sanders focused on the struggles of “everyday, working Americans like us,” calling for a federal living wage and criticizing rising rents.

Sanders has praised the tour’s impact, noting it as the largest political mobilization since Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign in some locations, like Denver.

Travel Controversies: Private Jets and First-Class Flights Add to Scrutiny

Beyond hotels, travel arrangements have drawn attention.

Ocasio-Cortez was photographed flying first-class on a JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas on March 19, 2025, the day before the North Las Vegas event.

Separately, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez chartered private jets for several West Coast stops, with costs up to $15,000 per hour and over $221,000 spent in the first quarter of 2025 alone.

Sanders defended the private flights, offering “no apologies” and citing scheduling needs, while critics, including the National Republican Congressional Committee, labeled them “champagne socialists.”

These details emerge amid Ocasio-Cortez’s history of criticizing elite excesses, such as her 2021 Met Gala appearance in a “Tax the Rich” dress, which led to a House Ethics Committee review (ultimately dismissed), and her advocacy for the Green New Deal, which targets high-emission practices like private jet travel.

Campaign Spending Norms vs. Perceived Hypocrisy

Campaign travel expenses are commonplace in politics, often covering accommodations for candidates, staff, and security.

However, the tour’s explicit focus on combating oligarchy—defined by Ocasio-Cortez as undue influence by the ultrawealthy—has amplified perceptions of inconsistency.

Conservative outlets and commentators have seized on the story, with one calling it a “Marie Antoinette moment.”

Progressive allies have not publicly addressed the criticism, and searches of left-leaning media like MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian yield no coverage of the hotel expenditures as of September 10, 2025.

Ocasio-Cortez has not directly responded to the hotel spending allegations on her social media or in statements, though she has previously defended her working-class roots and tour experiences, stating in a June 2025 post: “GOP always think this is some gotcha but I ran my whole campaign for Congress on this w/the motto ‘your zip code shouldn’t determine your destiny.’”

As Ocasio-Cortez is eyed as a potential 2028 presidential or Senate contender, these revelations could fuel debates on authenticity in progressive politics.

The tour continues to energize bases, but the spending details underscore ongoing tensions between rhetoric and reality in high-stakes campaigning.

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