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Ex-Trump Official Warns: ‘Do Not Underestimate AOC’ in 2028

“She’s young, she’s vibrant, she’s attractive,” Monica Crowley said, adding that the Democratic congresswoman has “tremendous grassroots support.”

A former Trump administration official thinks Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) could make a formidable candidate for president, warning Republicans not to underestimate her.

Monica Crowley, former assistant secretary of public affairs at the Treasury Department, discussed the progressive lawmaker’s capabilities Friday night on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle.

Guest host Lisa Boothe first noted how Ocasio-Cortez asked constituents who voted for her but not for Vice President Kamala Harris why they did so. Some mentioned the economy, a need for “change,” and the war in Gaza, as well as the feeling that Ocasio-Cortez and Donald Trump don’t represent “the establishment.”

“She did this Instagram thing where she reached out to her voters and split-ticket voters for Trump, asking them why they split the ticket, and a lot of them said they like her accessibility. She’s doing these Instagram Lives, and 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 said.

“Is it fair to rule her out, or is there something there for her?” she asked Crowley.

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Ocasio-Cortez has “tremendous grassroots support,” Crowley responded, adding that the congresswoman “was an early adopter of social media” and that she has continued to “connect directly with voters.”

Crowley framed the 2024 election as the country doing away with “wokeness” and said she doubted that in four years’ time the populace would reverse course.

“However,” she continued, “just a word of warning to the Republicans, to my party: Do not underestimate AOC. She’s young, she’s vibrant, she’s attractive. I think she’s wrong on everything, but she does have real grassroots support, and all of the energy and activism in the Democratic Party remains with the revolutionary left, of which she is a part.”

“So,” Crowley concluded, “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.”

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