Ocasio-Cortez Hits DeSantis With Brutal Reality Check

Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., said that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is the “weaker” in her opinion and that former President Donald Trump still holds the Republicans’ base support.

Recent polls have shown Trump pulling ahead and increasing his lead against DeSantis. So far, it appears likely that the 2024 presidential race might end up being another matchup between Trump and President Biden. However, while polls want Trump in the lead for the 2024 GOP nomination, DeSantis appears to be performing much better in hypothetical matchups against Biden.

MSNBC’s Jen Psaki asked the congresswoman if she believed that Trump becoming the GOP nominee would increase the Democrats’ chances of winning the White House in 2024. Ocasio-Cortez in response said that DeSantis is the “weaker” candidate, especially because in her view he “has made some very large critical errors.” While DeSantis has not yet launched a presidential campaign, he is widely expected to place a bid for the White House in 2024.

Ocasio-Cortez added that “You can’t out Trump, Trump right?” and that in reality, the base that DeSantis is trying to win over belongs to Trump. She further argued that DeSantis’ policies “go way too far in the state of Florida,” which means that people no longer view him as a more rational option than Trump.  Despite Ocasio-Cortez’s claims, DeSantis was successful in his reelection bid in 2022, winning with a close to a 20-point margin.

Still, Ocasio-Cortez maintained that currently there is no one in the Republican party who is in a position to win the GOP nomination over Trump.