By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-15 22:36:04 | Updated at 2026-08-15 22:46:09
22 minutes ago
He’s hit a ruff patch!
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s ex Riley Roberts was spotted for the first time Saturday since news of the power couple’s split — walking their shared dog Deco outside of the socialist lawmaker’s Queens apartment.
The Post spotted Roberts, 38, around midday, looking sallow in a black long sleeve shirt and camo shorts with army green Birkenstocks, as he emerged from the East Elmhurst 3-bedroom apartment they shared together with the beefy, six-year-old French bulldog.
Sporting a Knicks cap, sunglasses and earbuds, Roberts took a lonely, 20-minute jaunt with Deco before returning to the apartment.
AOC’s jettisoned beau had not been seen since news of their breakup broke Tuesday, after the socialist lawmaker embarked on a public journey to freeze her eggs.
It’s not known whether Roberts still lives with AOC or if the elusive ex has moved since the split and was simply walking the dog as a favor to the rumored 2028 presidential contender, who’s been busy this past week filming non-stop videos for her 9.7 million Instagram followers about her fertility treatments.
Ocasio-Cortez, 36, and Roberts reportedly broke up in February because she was too successful for the Arizona-born web developer, sources told the Daily Mail.
“Rare is the man who is able to put himself in the back seat to his wife’s political career,” said a Capitol Hill source who socialized with the couple, adding that AOC’s political star rose so quickly it may have created a “very, very toxic” power imbalance in their relationship.
“The marvel is that it lasted as long as it did.”
The pair, who was pictured dining out together at a Midtown’s Black Iron Burger joint in May, have stayed close friends, the sources told the outlet.
“They eat together a lot. They are close friends, but it’s no longer a romantic relationship,” said a former Democratic operative.
A third source, identified as a former AOC staffer, said the two “reminded me a little bit of my grandparents in their affectionate nature.”
“So when it was working, it was beautiful,” the ex-staffer continued. “You know when people get together young. Life is life. Life happens. I hope they’re happy.”
Neither has publicly confirmed the breakup, with AOC telling The Post “I don’t comment on my private life,” when asked outside her apartment Wednesday.
Her former beau’s 85-year-old father, Vincent Roberts refused to comment about the relationship when reached by phone at his $1.4 million Paradise Valley, Arizona home, this week by a Post reporter.
The couple had been together 15 years, first meeting through a student discussion group when they both attended Boston University. Roberts proposed in April 2022 during a trip to Puerto Rico, with AOC proudly touting her “zero emissions ring,” but she stopped wearing it after October 2023.
The one-time “it” couple — who made a splash at the 2021 Met Gala when AOC showed up in her infamous “Tax the Rich” dress — bought the purebred pooch in 2020 — naming him after the early 1900s art movement.
“We decided to name him after one of Riley & I’s favorite design styles: Art Deco – which also is inspired by themes of optimism & social and technological progress and is a fixture in iconic NYC architecture,’’ she then told her Instagram followers.
Deco made regular appearances on the couple’s Instagram, like a happy Christmas 2021 snap of all three wearing matching outfits.
Now the French bulldog is a sad reminder of their broken home.
When they got Deco, the couple attracted the wrath of animal rights group PETA.
“We really couldn’t believe our eyes. . . . with the millions of homeless dogs out there, you apparently chose to buy a purebred puppy instead of adopting one from an animal shelter,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk wrote in a scathing letter to AOC in January 2020.
“French bulldogs are inbred in order to produce ‘breed-specific traits,’ which cause health problems that many people who will be influenced by your purchase won’t be able to afford to address.”
