Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezHouse passes bill to avert shutdown Trump attacks Omar for criticizing US: 'How did you do where you came from?' The Memo: Dems face balancing act on SCOTUS fight MORE (D-N.Y.) said this week that she may have been a teacher if President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE did not win the 2016 election.

“I don't know,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Showtime’s “Desus and Mero” on Thursday when asked if she would have run for Congress if Trump was not president. “I could be just like teaching in high school right now.”

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“But you know, times of great challenge can also bring out the best in people, too, and so I think that's what we're really seeing, even though things are hitting the fan right now, we're seeing people activate and educate themselves,” she added.

The 29-year-old progressive, who previously worked as a bartender, has shaken up the Democratic establishment since defeating 10-term Rep. Joseph Crowley in a Democratic primary last year. Many speculated Crowley could one day be a House Speaker.

Since arriving to Congress, Ocasio-Cortez has proposed a litany of progressive platforms to push the party further left, including her "Green New Deal" and a 70 percent marginal tax rate on income above $10 million.

She has drawn the ire of conservatives on Capitol Hill, who say her policies are radical and unrealistic and who tie the party at large to the self-proclaimed democratic socialist, saying the left is embracing socialism.

“I mean it is heavy but in a weird way that stuff is validation that you're doing something real,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Because if you're just flying under the radar, just trying to like get your check, like not rock the boat, then what's the point of being in politics?”