Monica Crowley, a former official in President-elect Donald Trump‘s first administration, warned Republicans on Friday not to “underestimate” progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez possibly running for president in 2028.
Crowley, who served as assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from July 2019 to January 2021 and is a former Fox News contributor, joined guest host Lisa Boothe on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle on Friday to discuss Ocasio-Cortez and a potential presidential bid.
Ocasio-Cortez, widely known as “AOC,” is a New York Democrat recognized for her progressive policy positions, including support for Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, and her vocal presence in Congress. She has represented New York’s 14th Congressional District since defeating incumbent Representative Joe Crowley in a surprise 2018 primary upset.
Following the 2024 election, in which some of her constituents in the Bronx and Queens voted for Trump, she asked them about ticket splitting on social media. The responses included a variety of reasons, from policy positions to the attitudes of the candidates, with the economy as one of the most mentioned issues. Boothe said that respondents “like her accessibility,” adding that “we saw that with Donald Trump as well, being willing to sit down with Joe Rogan, going on X, doing these three hour interviews.”
Boothe then asked Crowley, “Is it fair to rule her [Ocasio-Cortez] out or is there something there for her?” regarding a potential presidential bid for AOC.
Crowley responded that the congresswoman has “tremendous grassroots support” and as she was an “early adopter of social media” she is constantly “connecting directly to voters.”
However, Crowley added: “The lesson of this last 2024 election and Donald Trump’s landslide mandate victory is that the country has had enough of the radical Left, it’s had enough of socialism, it’s had enough of cancel culture and wokeness, and it rejected roundly all of those things. So, I don’t think in four short years the country is going to say, ‘We need more communism.’”
The congresswoman has not publicly stated she is running for president in 2028.
Earlier this month, Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, in the presidential election, winning both the popular vote and the Electoral College. Down the ballot, Republicans secured majorities in both chambers of Congress.
“Just a word of warning to the Republicans, to my party, do not underestimate AOC, she’s young, she’s vibrant, she’s attractive,” Crowley said on Friday. “I think she’s wrong on everything, but she does have real grassroot support. And all the energy and activism in the Democrat party remains with the revolutionary left, of which she is a part.”
She continued: “So, every time the Republicans have underestimated the Democrats, we ended up with Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. So, let’s not do it again in four years.”
Newsweek has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s press team for comment via email on Saturday. Newsweek has filed out a contact request form with the Republican National Committee (RNC) on Saturday.
Party shifts often happen during periods of dissatisfaction with the incumbent party and are fairly common after one party holds the presidency for two terms, although not always the case.
President Clinton’s tenure was sandwiched between Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Similarly, President Obama served between Republican Presidents Bush and Trump, while President Joe Biden’s term came between Trump’s two terms.
Ocasio-Cortez has been vocal about the future of the Democratic Party, writing a strong critique of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s potential bid for Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair earlier this month.
“There is a disease in Washington of Democrats who spend more time listening to the donor class than working people,” she wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “If you want to know the seed of the party’s political crisis, that’s it.”
The congresswoman further emphasized her opposition, writing that the DNC needs “an organizer who gets people. Not someone who sends fish heads in the mail,” referencing Emanuel’s notorious aggressive political tactics.
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