Bishop Barron Calls Out AOC’s ‘Thin’ Culture Comments [WATCH]

Bishop Robert Barron addressed a recent exchange between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, contrasting their views on culture and warning about what he described as Marxist themes in American political discourse.

Barron referenced a speech Rubio delivered in Munich, where Rubio spoke about the shared cultural heritage of Europe and America.

“Hey everybody. It’s Bishop Baron. You know, just last week, Marco Rubio gave a talk that I thought was really good in Munich. He was talking about the shared culture of Europe and America. He referenced Gothic cathedrals and Dante and Shakespeare and even the Beatles. His point was, we got to get beyond just our political differences and find our sources in the great culture that unites us,” Barron said.

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Barron noted that Rubio linked culture to religious foundations.

“And then he took a further step that was very much in line with Pope Benedict the 16th and Christopher Dawson, namely, that culture is grounded in cult. At the root of all culture is something like religion. And so he wasn’t afraid to reference the Christian faith as a key element in giving rise to the shared culture of Europe and America. So a really good speech.”

Barron then described Ocasio-Cortez’s response to Rubio’s remarks.

“I saw representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez answering him, and I was very struck by her answer. I thought was very illuminating. She said, Oh, you know, this appeal to culture, it’s it’s so thin, because culture is ephemeral. It’s always changing, and so we shouldn’t pay attention to culture. We just pay attention to the material foundations in the class struggle.”

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Barron characterized that position as rooted in Marxist thought.

“Well, all of that, everybody is right out of the Marxist playbook. First of all, that Western culture, as Rubio invoked, it, is thin, the culture that gave us all those great figures, that gave us the rule of law, that gave us respect for the rights of the individual, that gave us our democratic political system, that gave us the university system that’s thin and your argument is, well, because cultures always change. Well, that’s a banality. I mean, of course, cultures are alive. They change and evolve. Doesn’t mean for a second, we can’t identify the key elements within a culture that gives it its character.”

Barron said describing culture as “thin” reflects a specific ideological framework.

“But also this to characterize culture as thin is a Marxist move. Marx said that culture is simply an epiphenomenal superstructure on top of the economic substructure, and don’t be distracted, therefore, by the culture that’s just protecting the economics at bottom. Well, again, listen to her. Let’s pay attention to the material conditions and to class struggle. Again, that’s the Marxist playbook.”

He expressed concern about what he sees as growing acceptance of Marxist ideas among some political leaders.

“What’s worrying me, everybody is the extent to which political leadership on the left in America is becoming it’s unapologetically Marxist. The mayor of New York City. You know, the warmth of collectivism. He’s calling for the confiscation of private property, of seizing the means of production, all language right out of the Communist Manifesto.”

Barron urged supporters of those figures to consider the historical record.

“You know, might I encourage followers of, you know, Mayor Mamdani and AOC talk to some of them. They’re still alive. Some of them the people that fled Marxist tyranny in Europe, people laboring under it to this day in Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, et cetera.”

He said his concern extends beyond politics and into religious freedom.

“And then this too, it concerns me, not just as someone who follows politics, but as a bishop of the Catholic Church. Marx himself said the first critique is a critique of religion and his political adepts followed him. The first thing that the Marxist tyrannies went after, in most cases, was religion.”

Barron concluded by saying the rhetoric used by some political leaders signals deeper ideological commitments.

“I’m getting a little concerned that in some of these leading figures in our own politics, a Marxist philosophy is taking hold as a religious leader. This is concerning me quite a bit. Take a look. Everybody. Attend to the language in a way they’re telling us who they are and what they’re for. And I think that should be very concerning to everybody. And God bless you.”

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