A Tuesday Fox News segment discussing New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsing a 2020 candidate prompted a snide series of comments about her physical appearance and intelligence.
Frequent Fox News correspondent and Fox Business Network anchor Dagen McDowell took several shots at the freshman Democrat Tuesday, offering the advice that "beauty fades, stupid is forever," although not explicitly directing it at Ocasio-Cortez. McDowell and the other Outnumbered panelists questioned the positives of her giving Senators Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren her 2020 endorsement, with McDowell sneering, "she photographs well," but doesn't matter.
McDowell expressed her fear that Ocasio-Cortez's proposed Green New Deal would put "millions" of energy industry employees out of work and raise gas prices by $5 before offering the New York "socialist" a veiled piece of beauty "advice."
"Juan, first up, does her endorsement matter if you're trying to win the White House?" McDowell asked the "man in the middle," Juan Williams, between the four female Outnumbered co-hosts and panelists. "She is a socialist from New York City, she photographs well, she speaks with her hands, but beyond that, does she matter?"
Several panelists took turns in criticizing Ocasio-Cortez and the Green New Deal as they discussed whether "liberal firebrands" Sanders and Warren should even be "battling for the key prize, AOC."
The catty segment ultimately concluded with Williams pointing out that the show's lengthy discussion was "her doing," referring to Ocasio-Cortez. A second host chimed in and quipped, "as a laughingstock."
But McDowell continued her Southern "Mean Girls" routine and offered her own personal wisdom and critique that appeared to be directed at the freshman Democrat they were just discussing. "Beauty fades, stupid is forever," she said before turning toward the camera. "That's not directed at anyone. That's directed at somebody..." she added with a sly smile.
The Tuesday Fox News segment looked at Ocasio-Cortez's influence within the Democratic Party, as well as AOC's caution to supporters that some establishment Democrats support fracking and don't support the Green New Deal.
"This is a dealbreaker. There is no "middle ground" w/ climate denial & delay. Blaming "blue collar" Americans as the main opponents to bold climate policy is gas lobbyist 101. We're not going to solve the climate crisis w/ this lack of leadership. Our kids' lives are at stake," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Friday in an apparent shot at Joe Biden.
Williams repeatedly stressed AOC's influence, but primarily said it just because Americans live in a "social media" obsessed world -- something of benefit to Ocasio-Cortez and her more than 4 million Twitter followers.
"Yes, she matters, and I'll tell you why," Williams, one of the network's few admitted Democrats said. "We are in a social media age and I think that her Twitter account is second only to Trump's in terms of political figures in the country. And so she appeals to a lot of young people and we're talking about her here on the couch today. She drives a lot of media attention. So just the news of her endorsement would be like, 'wow, why did she do that and what does it matter?'"
The segment's shallow criticisms didn't stop with Ocasio-Cortez, another host referred to former vice president Biden as "a billion years old."
Slipping into her thickest Virginia accent, McDowell asked Williams, "Is AOC toxic to a Democrat candidate who really wants to win against Donald Trump because she's proposing essentially sending your gas prices up $5 a gallon, that would be the ultimate result of her Green New Deal," she said, offering no evidence of the claim. "It would literally put millions of people who work in the energy industry out of work."
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Benjamin Fearnow is a reporter based out of Newsweek's New York City offices. He was previously at CBS and Mediaite ... Read more
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