President Trump declared in his State of the Union speech that America will "never be a socialist country," a clear rebuke of a new generation of Democrats and socialists like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

“Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” Trump told Congress Tuesday night. “We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”

That warning came minutes after Trump brought Ocasio-Cortez — one of the most prominent young proponents of socialism to take office this year — and other Democratic women in the chamber to their feet by noting the record number of female lawmakers serving in Congress this year. But he turned promptly to a rebuke of the insurgent ideologues, who have gained influence in the party since self-described socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders mounted a stiff challenge for the Democratic residential nomination in 2016.

“America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion, domination, and control,” Trump said.

The president anchored that domestic rebuke in the political sea change underway in Venezuela, where the United States and regional allies recognized opposition lawmaker Juan Guaido as the interim president, at the expense of strongman Nicolas Maduro.

“We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom — and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair,” he said.