MSNBC's Claire McCaskill heaped praise on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) for giving voice to the anger that many Democrats are feeling in the early days of Donald Trump's second presidency.
The New York Democrat has been attracting tens of thousands to rallies with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on their "fighting oligarchy" tour, and former Democratic Senator McCaskill (MO) told "Morning Joe" that Ocasio-Cortez had crafted a powerful message to generate enthusiasm for next year's midterm elections.
"One of Trump's lawyers, I forget how you say her name, Alina Hababa or Habbab," McCaskill said, as co-host Mika Brzezinski offered the correct pronunciation as Alina Habba. "She went on TV, yeah, she went on TV and basically made fun of AOC for having been a bartender, and AOC turned it around very quickly and said, 'You know, she's not criticizing me, she's criticizing you — she's looking down at you, all of you Americans who are working an extra shift, everyone who is waiting tables and serving beer at a bar, trying to find a way to the American dream.'"
"Now, listen, this is a great communicator," McCaskill added. "She is a good, really good communicator, and she's smart, and one thing she's done that I don't think she has trumpeted, but I sure noticed, is she has not been out there voting by herself against most Democrats, she has not been.
"She really, I hate to use the dreaded word moderated, because I know that's not what she would want me to say, but she has. She has been somebody who's been willing to play on a team, not on a squad, but on a team, and clearly right now she understands where this anger is coming from, and she understands that Donald Trump is turning his back on his base in favor of his billionaire bros."
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