Overview
- Speaking at the Technical University of Berlin, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Western culture “thin” and urged a focus on material and class interests.
- Bishop Robert Barron responded in a video by lauding Marco Rubio’s Munich remarks invoking shared European–American heritage.
- Barron said Western institutions draw from religious foundations, citing gothic cathedrals, Dante, Shakespeare and even the Beatles as cultural touchstones.
- He characterized Ocasio-Cortez’s emphasis on material conditions and class struggle as Marxist and warned such ideology is influencing some left-wing leaders.
- Right-leaning outlets amplified Barron’s critique as evidence of Marxist ideas gaining ground, with no new policy fallout or additional response from Ocasio-Cortez reported.