Former President Donald Trump told an audience of 100 business leaders that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a 'failed geek...
Former President Donald Trump told an audience of 100 business leaders that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a 'failed geek' but her outsized influence within the Democratic party makes 'old men shiver in fear' in the halls of Congress, according to a new book excerpt exclusively obtained.
He told the powerful crowd at the closed-door meeting in 2019 that re-electing him would keep Democrats' progressive policies like Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal at bay.
But Trump appeared to express admiration for the firebrand's meteoric rise and media-savvy style.
'Let me tell you something about AOC. Let me tell you something about her. I’ve watched her walk down the halls of Congress, and I see these old men shiver in fear—they shiver in fear whenever they see her,' Trump said.
'You want to know why? Because AOC has a base, just like me.'
He was speaking during a a Business Roundtable conference, making the case to the CEOs of Amazon, JP Morgan, Boeing, Blackrock and others that re-electing him would be better for their companies.
Trump's comments reportedly earned nervous laughter from the room, according to 'In Trump's Shadow: The Battle for 2024 and the Future of the GOP' by Washington Examiner journalist David Drucker.
Former President Donald Trump told business leaders in 2019 that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal would 'shut down American energy' if he wasn't re-elected in 202
The book will be published on October 19.
The event was after a 2018 midterm election cycle where Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives, but Republicans gained two seats in the Senate.
'You definitely want to see me reelected if you want to keep being in business,' Trump said. 'You’ve got this Green New Deal. It’s completely crazy. It’ll completely shut down American energy. And it’s from this failed geek, Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez. They call her AOC.'
He reportedly attended the event alongside Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, economic adviser Larry Kudlow, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and his daughter Ivanka Trump.
At the time, Ocasio-Cortez had gained national attention for unseating longtime establishment Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley, who was considered a protégé of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Trump respected Ocasio-Cortez for 'establishing herself as a leading progressive with national reach,' the author writes.
The comments were reported in a book by Washington Examiner journalist David M. Drucker
They also both traced their roots to New York City - Trump to Queens and Ocasio-Cortez in the Bronx.
The ex-president has expressed a similar mix of respect and dismissiveness toward the young Democrat in the past.
During a presidential debate in October he said 'she's got a good line of stuff' with her Green New Deal climate plan but added 'she knows nothing about the climate.'
At other points, he was less flattering, like last January when he shared on his now-defunct Twitter account an attack ad that called Ocasio-Cortez 'an embarrassing, barely literate moron.'
It was in response to an interview in which the New York lawmaker said billionaires are a product of 'modern day slave wages.'
Democrats' Green New Deal plan ascended to nationwide recognition along with Ocasio-Cortez in 2018.
An original 14-page resolution was first introduced by Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey in 2019 and involved broad goals for the government to combat climate change.
It called for ensuring future infrastructure bills in Congress address climate change and meeting 100 percent of the US's power demands with 'clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources.'
Ocasio-Cortez re-introduced the measure in the current Congress this past April.
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