Conservative radio host Buck Sexton warned Republicans that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., could pose a serious threat in the 2028 presidential race, arguing that she has softened her public image while retaining her progressive politics.
Sexton delivered his assessment during Wednesday’s episode of “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” where he argued that Ocasio-Cortez has publicly moved away from some of her most extreme left-wing positions.
The radio host also pointed to the congresswoman’s appearance and public presentation as political advantages that could help her promote the Democratic agenda to a national audience.
“You are going to have an attractive, smiling face telling you why your property is not yours and you should be sent to the gulag, basically,” Sexton said.
He argued that Ocasio-Cortez could push policies similar to those supported by “street communists” while presenting them with what he described as more “Mamdani-esque flair.”
Sexton said the New York Democrat has “learned to be less shrill” and described her as “the face of a rebranded woke.”
His comments came one month after Ocasio-Cortez appeared to distance herself from left-wing proposals that included abolishing prisons and defunding the police.
“Woke 1 was crazy!” Ocasio-Cortez said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” delivering a remark that quickly went viral.
During the same interview, the congresswoman suggested that people should receive some leeway for embracing those ideas because the COVID-19 pandemic had caused everyone to become somewhat “kooky.”
Sexton argued that the remarks showed Ocasio-Cortez had intelligently shifted closer to the political center, at least in how she publicly presents herself. He said that adjustment could make her a strong Democratic contender in 2028.
His co-host, OutKick founder Clay Travis, agreed that Republicans should take the possibility of an Ocasio-Cortez campaign seriously.
“AOC scares me more than Kamala [Harris] does,” Travis said.
Sexton went further, calling Ocasio-Cortez “far more formidable” than the former vice president. He said a major factor was that the New York lawmaker was not viewed as a “loser.”
The hosts made their comments on the same day The Wall Street Journal reported that they were “dominating” talk radio. Travis and Sexton replaced Rush Limbaugh following his death in 2021.
According to the Journal report, “Clay & Buck” attracts seven million listeners each month and airs across 550 stations nationwide.
Ocasio-Cortez, meanwhile, has recently received increased media attention. In August, the 36-year-old liberal announced that she was freezing her eggs. TMZ reported several days later that she had ended her relationship with her longtime fiancé.
The additional attention appeared to boost her national political profile. Soon afterward, Ocasio-Cortez became the betting favorite to secure the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential nomination, moving ahead of Jon Ossoff and Gavin Newsom in the markets.
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