Trump provoked nervous laughter as he ranted about Ocasio-Cortez making 'old men shiver in fear': new book

Former president Donald Trump prompted nervous laughter while ranting about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) during a closed-door meeting with business leaders, according to a new book.

The twice-impeached one-term president told about 100 corporate leaders at the 2019 meeting that re-electing him would prevent Ocasio-Cortez, then a first-term congresswoman, from imposing the Green New Deal and other progressive policies, according to an excerpt from the book "In Trump's Shadow: The Battle for 2024 and the Future of the GOP" published by the Daily Mail.

"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," the tabloid reported, based on the upcoming book from Washington Examiner reporter David Drucker.

"You definitely want to see me reelected if you want to keep being in business," Trump said, according to Drucker. "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."

Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin, economic adviser Larry Kudlow, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and his daughter Ivanka Trump also attended the meeting with Trump.