'Sounds crazy': Morning Joe crew identifies the 'only Democrat' Steve Bannon is afraid of

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) is being mentioned as a possible 2028 presidential candidate. But many establishment Democrats have their doubts about AOC's electability outside of New York City, pointing out that while she is obviously quite popular in her congressional district — where she has handily won four general elections — she has never run a statewide race, let alone a national one.

Far-right "War Room" host Steve Bannon, however, has a different view of Ocasio-Cortez's ability to go the distance outside of her district, which includes areas of The Bronx and Queens.

During a Monday morning, May 5 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," journalist Anand Giridharadas recalled a conversation he had with Bannon during a 2019 interview for Time Magazine.

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Giridharadas told hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, "I went to interview Steve Bannon for a piece about Bernie Sanders.… He had a lot of respect for Bernie Sanders…. But he said: AOC is the only Democrat I'm afraid of. He said, 'All these other people I find so easily beatable. I see them. I know the strategy for them…. He was afraid of AOC."

Scarborough, a Never Trump conservative and former GOP congressman, found Bannon's comments about AOC "interesting," noting that Bannon and Ocasio-Cortez — for all their differences — "come together on economic populism" and "say 'Don't do tax cuts to the rich.'"

Scarborough observed, "A lot of people may not realize this, but Steve Bannon is against tax cuts for the rich now. And he's saying it now…. He supports some of the tariffs. But he's a fan — as is, I think Josh Hawley and the vice president — of Lina Khan: break up the monopolies in Silicon Valley."

The Never Trumper added, "So there is a place where Democrats can go where they can pull over independents, disaffected voters who would vote for Bernie Sanders or AOC. And listen to Steve Bannon's podcast. It sounds crazy in this world, but there is a through line."

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