Republican strategist and FOX News commentator Ari Fleischer reacts to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) performance on the world stage at the Munich Security Conference. “What on earth is she talking about?” Fleischer asked. “You stop China from going into Taiwan by military strength, by giving Taiwan the arms that it needs, so China will think twice about going into Taiwan. That’s not economic research.” “I don’t know. I mean, people recover from a lot of things in politics these days,” Fleischer said of AOC. “In a Democratic primary, again, it’s not foreign policy chops the Democrats are looking for. They’re looking for anti-Trump chops. And that’s what she kind of has.” “I question whether she’ll run, though,” he continued. “She is ambitious, but she’s cautious. I think she has her fame nailed down in her perch as House of Representatives. She doesn’t need the Senate. She doesn’t really need the White House to be president. And the price of failure is so big, why does she need it?”

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS: Let’s bring in Ari Fleischer, Fox News contributor and former White House press secretary. So as we look ahead to 2028, here’s what Matthew Continetti, Wall Street Journal opinion writer, says about the Dems in 2028. He says, “Socialism’s rise raises troubling questions about the party’s future. A radicalized base animated by anti-Trump resistance may be an asset in special and midterm elections, but open borders, social disorder, and transgender ideology have hurt Democrats in presidential years. They will do so again if unchecked.” The big question is, and Matthew doesn’t believe that they’ve learned the lessons of 2024, will they before 2028 rolls around? ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: They will not. That was a brilliant column by Matthew, and I think what he’s really done is summed up where the modern-day Democratic Party is. It is driven by such an anti-Trump animus. That is the motivating factor that whoever they nominate must hate Donald Trump with everything they got, all their bones. And that, married with the ideology of the Democrats, particularly as this column pointed out, among Democrats less than 35 years old, 43% consider themselves socialists. With the rise of socialism ideologically, the hatred of Donald Trump personally, the Democratic nominee is going to be pushed to the far, far left, which is doomsday for them in a general election. ROBERTS: So when we look at who is the frontrunner or the frontrunners for 2028, RCP, Real Clear Politics, has got to look. Guess who’s at the top of the heap? Kamala Harris with nearly 31%, Gavin Newsom with nearly 22%. That’s a kind of a fresh face. Buttigieg is back with 8.6%, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez way back at 7.5%, and Josh Shapiro at 5.7%. A lot of people think that he would actually be the strongest candidate. When a person who failed as a presidential candidate, and some would say failed as vice president, is leading the pack for 2028, what does that say about the Democratic Party? FLEISCHER: Well, first and foremost, all these polls are meaningless. They’re way too early. I remember on the race, John, that I worked on in 2000 for George W. Bush. Do you know who was winning in all the polls after Election Day 1998? It was Elizabeth Dole. She was winning in all the Republican polls. These polls just measure name by day. They measure whoever was the biggest name most recently, and that’s why Kamala Harris is on top of that list. It’ll be up to the Democrats to carve a new path for each individual candidate to get known, create attention, and focus on themselves. All these numbers are going to flip around and change. All the people running will flip around and change. ROBERTS: So clearly, there’s a lot of excitement for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez among the left wing of the Democratic Party, but if her performance at the Munich security conference is any indication, she still has a lot to learn. Remember when she said this? QUESTION: Would and should the U.S. actually commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan? REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think that this is such a, you know, I think that this is a, um — ROBERTS: President Trump couldn’t help but reflect on that today earlier. Take a listen to this. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: AOC, she was unable to answer a simple question. And she could have said, well, I’m studying it and I’ll report back to you next week. You know, you can get away with that. But she just went, it’s actually, I think it could be a career-ending answer. ROBERTS: Do you agree? Could it be a career-ending answer for her? I mean, if your foreign policy chops seem to be that rusty, why would anyone want to vote for you to become president? FLEISCHER: Yeah, first and foremost, you know, I do a lot of media training of people and I work with them on how to get rid of the ums and the ahs in their diction. She’s got too many ums and ahs to ever get rid of. But, you know, if you would continue that answer, she continued to say one of the ways to stop China is through economic research. What on earth is she talking about? You stop China from going into Taiwan by military strength, by giving Taiwan the arms that it needs, so China will think twice about going into Taiwan. That’s not economic research. I don’t know. I mean, people recover from a lot of things in politics these days. In a Democratic primary, again, it’s not foreign policy chops the Democrats are looking for. They’re looking for anti-Trump chops. And that’s what she kind of has. I question whether she’ll run, though, John. She is ambitious, but she’s cautious. I think she has her fame nailed down in her perch as House of Representatives. She doesn’t need the Senate. She doesn’t really need the White House to be president. And the price of failure is so big, why does she need it? ROBERTS: But real quick, just because you’re so good at this, what value will anti-Trump chops be in 2028 when you’re not running against Trump? They’ll be immense. FLEISCHER: Just like in 2000, in that election, it was anti-Clinton because of all the hangover about the Bill Clinton years. Just like in 2008, it was anti-Bush. I mean, what happens with the previous president is a hangover for whoever is running anew. And if the previous president leaves popular, that’s a different thing. If he leaves unpopular, that’s where he’ll be, Trump will be, for the Democrats no matter what.

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