AOC trumpets small donors — but celebs like Jane Fonda, Ben Affleck and more give big

NY Post ^ | November 15, 2025 | By Geoff Earle and Gabrielle Fahmy

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continually touts her fundraising as a grass-roots effort that relies on small donations from regular people — but her campaign coffers are stuffed with big contributions from celebrities, wealthy activists and executives, a Post review found.

Even many of AOC’s small-dollar contributions are larger than meets the eye, under an accounting loophole that lets big donors masquerade as little ones.

Among the bold-faced names whose identities are buried inside her lengthy Federal Election Commission reports are Jane Fonda, the actress and activist has given $8,300 to the socialist lawmaker and “Squad” member over the years, including $500 so far in the first half of 2025.

Also kicking in to AOC’s $20 million war chest were:

Comedienne Wanda Sykes, who gave $2,000 this year; “Running on Empty” singer Jackson Browne, who gave $4,850 in 2025 and nearly $12,000 since 2020; “Working Girl” star Melanie Griffith, with $250; and “Dream On” actress Wendie Malick, who donated $258.

“Gone Girl” actor Ben Affleck has chipped in $3,452; “The Avengers” Mark Ruffalo gave $5,063, and lefty filmmaker Michael Moore donated $1,000 — although the trio have sat on their wallets so far this election cycle.

Boldfaced names outside of Hollywood included Franklin Delano Roosevelt III, grandson of the US president, a self-described “radical” economist whose New School Ph.D. dissertation was titled “Towards a Marxist Critique of the Cambridge School.” He gave $3,312 so far this year and $10,437 since 2020.

A number of beltway bandits also contributed. Al Kamen, who for years penned the Washington Post’s “In the Loop” column, gave $7,100, then got a partial refund after exceeding the federally allowed contribution limit. He was AOC’s top donor.

Those donors who ply their trade from powerhouse firms inside the Beltway include Samuel Maruca, a corporate tax attorney…

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TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: New York
KEYWORDS: aoc; congress; donors; socialist

[Texas Eagle]

Mm-hm. I’m sure Alex and Georgy Schwartz will help out s little through their dozens of non-tax-paying organizations.

[Vaduz]

Those aren’t regular people there outcasts seeking recognition.

[Wuli]

AOC = the modern ability to lie about everything while relying on mass ignorance to not understand you are lying, because (1) you sound like “you care” and (2) you sound very convincing. PERCEPTION not reality is the key ingredient in politics - what people perceive, whether true or not.

I witnessed a thread on FB on a “Robert Reich” page, where he posed the question of who among six people he named would be the best 2028 Dim candidate for President.

The intellectual caliber of the Robert Reich page followers was evidenced by how many said Pete Buttigieg or AOC would be great candidates.

It must be also noted how some claimed Kamala lost only because “America was not ready for a woman”, as if just because she was a woman was cause enough to vote for her.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

People who successfully flee the tyranny of communism come to the USA and HATE communism.

But the celebrities who got incredibly wealthy in the capitalist system. Their customers voluntarily exchanged their individual earned money in the capitalist system for a few minutes of escapist fare in the theater. Yet, the same celebs who make those films and songs HATE the capitalist system and free markets that bestowed wealth on them. They want a communist USSA.

Human nature is impossible to understand.

[jacknhoo]

Small Donors — mostly ActBlue money laundering. And they’re still allowing it.

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

ActBlue, of course. FDR III, a Socialist professor.

[Varsity Flight]

Who’s aoc?