An analyst on Tuesday revealed the "trick" to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-NY) mockery of Stephen Miller after the congresswoman called the White House deputy chief of staff "insecure" and warned MAGA followers not to follow the "embarrassing cowards."
Ocasio-Cortez didn't mince words last week when she told her Instagram followers to “Laugh at them! Stephen Miller is a clown! I’ve never seen that guy in real life, but he looks like he’s, like, 4′10″.”
An analyst warned that the attack on Miller, who stands 5 feet, 10 inches, could backfire unless it's done "without making it feel as if elitist liberals and man-hating women are taking aim at all conservative men," journalist and lawyer Jill Filipovic writes for Slate.
Filipovic argues there is a straightforward way to poke at Miller and shame his followers into reconsidering their support.
“People talk about this toxic masculinity. Let’s put that to the side for just one second—this is about insecure masculinity, and one of the best ways that you can dismantle a movement of insecure men is by making fun of them,” the author writes.
She also emphasizes that Miller deserves ridicule.
"Few people in American politics are as deserving of condemnation and mockery as Miller. He was the impetus behind Donald Trump’s family-separation policy. He has been pushing the outrageous claim that left-leaning groups are 'domestic terrorist organizations,' a lie (domestic terrorist organization also is not a legitimate legal designation) that seems to be a pretext for bringing the full force of the federal government down on Trump’s political opponents. It is truly difficult to overstate how authoritarian, dark, and dangerous Miller’s politics are, and how much sway he maintains over the president."
Filipovic points to fear as a tactic to mobilize MAGA followers, something that opponents can use to their advantage.
"And it seems to stem mostly from the fact that despite actually being closer to 5’10”, he’s a big, scared baby: scared of immigrants, scared of liberals, and begging Big Daddy Trump to send in the troops to protect him. If there were ever a legitimate target for mockery, he’s it," she writes.
The best tactic to disrupt MAGA's stronghold on men would be to focus on a key element: manliness.
"And Ocasio-Cortez is right that MAGA is a movement premised on insecure masculinity—and in that, it is like many other authoritarian movements throughout history," she adds.
"The mockery is merited. And sometimes it works," she writes. "Revealing men like Miller for who he is—an anxious scaredy-cat dweeb—helps dispel some of the mythology that this administration is trying to create. It also sends a message to men that the leaders of MAGA are not impressive tough guys but embarrassing cowards: men not to emulate but to move away from."
However, specifically humiliating men — even ones targeting immigrants, children and women — could have repercussions. But there could be a way to approach it.
"That doesn’t mean that liberals have to embrace or court these guys. But it does mean drawing a line between mocking the MAGA men in power and MAGA men writ large. The trick is making MAGA less appealing to men by being honest about how unappealing MAGA male leaders are," Filipovic writes.
