Mehdi Hasan: AOC’s Superpower in 2028 Is Convincing Republicans She’s Dumb and Extreme

As our own Grateful Calvin reported earlier on Saturday, David Axelrod interviewed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the University of Chicago on Friday night, where she made the outrageous claim that "the American Revolution was against the billionaires of their time." Axelrod also asked AOC about 2028, and she replied that her aspirations were bigger than becoming president. A presidential term is temporary, while single-payer health care, a living wage, and women's rights are permanent.

Mehdi Hasan calls AOC "a powerful and inspiring communicator" and believes that her superpower going into 2028 is her ability to convince Republicans that she's dumb and extreme.

So I think @aoc’s super power in 2028 is that a bunch of terminally online Republicans and addicts of Fox have convinced themselves AOC is dumb or extreme, totally underestimate her, and they don’t have any clue just what a powerful and inspiring communicator she is and how much… https://t.co/9cMDlJHcvu
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 9, 2026

The post continues:

… ordinary Americans - as well as Republican base voters, will be impressed by her mission statement.

What mission statement? Abolish ICE? Tax the rich? Democratic socialism?

AOC is a moron. She appeals to Low IQ individuals. She is less electable in a nationwide election than Kamala Harris.
— Ultra MAGA Deplorable Deb 🇺🇸 (@DebraMMason1) May 9, 2026

I remember when the same people talking up AOC were going on and on about what a brilliant communicator Kamala Harris was 😂
— Mig (@MiguelNouhan) May 9, 2026

AOC is both dumb and extreme. Confidence does not equal intelligence.
— Atom ⚛️ (@atommiller) May 9, 2026

No Mehdi you’ve got it all wrong. The way you or AOC talk to voters is condescending and lame. She also calls herself as a socialist which is an extreme position last I checked in the US. So extreme the Dems snuffed out the populist left and gave way to the populist right in 2016
— CheddaMan (@Sharprchedda) May 9, 2026

We actually love when she talks. The best part about AOC is people like you who allow her to believe she’s smart and prop up her ego. There is nothing more pathetic than an ignorant person with a platform who has no idea how ignorant they are and is arrogant as well.
— Anna colleen (@Annacolleeqr5) May 9, 2026

So she intentionally embarrassed herself on the global stage a few months ago? To trick people who already know she’s a fool? But will ultimately impress the Republican base?

Just stop. She won’t date you, Medhi.
— IHSM (@IHSM11) May 9, 2026

AOC can be dumb/extreme and effective. Look at Newsom and Mamdani! They always say the word "free" and suckers fall for it. AOC is running on the same hope and change Obama did. Communism.
— Erin Geary (@commonfolk365) May 9, 2026

You all thought Kamala was smart, too. You repeated the talking points so many times you forgot how horribly she did on her own in 2020, then you were shocked when she lost.
— The Duck of Death (@deathduck2025) May 9, 2026

She isn't intelligent as she is a socialist. She isn't dumb either, as she has successfully gamed the American public with rebranded socialist talking points.

I don't underestimate her. I want the cancer that is socialism and Islamism purged from this country.
— fuseboxx (@fuseboxx7) May 9, 2026

Right. She has the ability to make really dumb things sound smart so the really dumb people who think those things feel like they are smart. A silver tongue doesn't transmute lead ideas into gold.
— J Link (@ColoradoCairn) May 9, 2026

She’s really dumb. You don’t have to convince yourself. She talks publicly all the time.
— PinstripesX ⚾️ (@PinstripesX) May 9, 2026

AOC's superpower is she's a Democrat and therefore has never been meaningfully challenged by the corporate press.

I would love to see her run for POTUS. We'd find out how smart she is via the primary and general election processes.

She has all the answers, how hard could it be?
— Ron Richards (@RealRonRichards) May 9, 2026

Those who are impressed are seriously deluded.
— Bob ن (@BobHicks_) May 9, 2026

She is dumb and extreme.
— Ash Williams (@AshWilliam99) May 9, 2026

All of her extreme policies seem "moderate" when you're an extremist yourself. Some people seem to think she has charisma, which we'll grant, but we've all heard her talk. Is Hasan saying the word salad is just an act to get Republicans to underestimate her?

***

Mehdi Hasan: AOC’s Superpower in 2028 Is Convincing Republicans She’s Dumb and Extreme

Recommended