Former President Donald Trump's planned rally in the Bronx on Thursday has sparked sharp criticism from local politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Trump is expected to rail against President Joe Biden, inflation and the surge of asylum seekers in New York when he takes the stage in Crotona Park, located in an area where he won just 16% of the vote in 2020.

He has faced staunch criticism for the move, including from Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres, who said he was “appalled” to hear Trump would be hosting a rally in the borough he represents.

Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez, speaking on "Mornings On 1" Thursday, characterized the rally as a fundraising tactic.

“This is an attempt to, I think, trick some of our folks here,” she said. “What we see here is that former President Trump has been in court, he has mounting legal fees, and a lot of this is about covering the increasingly precarious financial situation that he's in.”

Regarding concerns about crowd size and accountability, Ocasio-Cortez said she believes that the rally will be composed of out-of-towners rather than Bronx residents.

“I think in terms of a crowd size, it's less about the size and more about who is there for holding a rally in the Bronx,” she said. “And if there are folks from different states that are traveling in—which tends to be common with the Trump campaign—then I think it kind of shows that he kind of has to travel around with folks instead of going into communities and actually building authentic support.”

While she acknowledged that there may be some New Yorkers in attendance to support Trump, she expressed skepticism over Trump’s ability to sway residents with unrealistic promises.

“Even if he hits on the economic point, we just saw that the former president met with oil executives last week saying, ‘Hey, you give me a billion dollars, and I'll make sure that you get the policies that are favorable to raising gas prices and making sure that a lot of these companies continue to price gouge without proper oversight or regulation.’ So, the idea that he'd be bringing [gas prices] down, when he's cashing it for the same folks that are bringing those prices up, I think is a little bit suspect,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Instead, she urged Democrats and New York lawmakers to focus on pressing issues such as health care, education and infrastructure investment.

“It's important that we stay focused on the issues that are most important to us,” she said.