On Monday night, CNN replaced “vacationing” Prime Time host Chris Cuomo with a sycophantic one-hour special, Being...A.O.C., that swooned over socialist New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as “uncompromising,” “outspoken,” and “glamorous.” At no point in the fawning profile were the words “left-wing” or “socialist” ever uttered. Instead, the radical lawmaker was invited to trash her critics, particularly those on CNN’s cable competitor Fox News.
“What’s it like to be one of the most famous politicians in America?...To be adored and reviled with seemingly equal passion,” Dana Bash wondered as the 9:00 p.m. ET hour began. The host gushed:
A strange existence for anyone, let alone a woman who, at age 28, catapulted from no-name New York City bartender to well-known member of Congress featured on glossy magazine covers practically overnight. It’s all part of Being AOC....The 31-year-old is outspoken, uncompromising, and not just navigating the political world, but trying to change it. All while, love her or hate her, everyone is watching.
Chatting with Ocasio-Cortez, Bash touted: “You’re now in your second term in the House. You have 12 million Twitter followers, nine million Instagram followers. And they all know you by three letters, AOC. So what’s it like to be AOC?”
The CNN correspondent marveled: “You go head to head with the leadership of your party....Where do you get that confidence?” Bash even celebrated her alliance with the worst anti-Semites in Congress: “Even her friendships are famous. The so-called Squad, House members Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar. Not just political allies, she says, but real friends.” Ocasio-Cortez hailed: “I was able to find kinship and friendship and sisterhood.”
Of course none of the numerous controversies swirling around the squad members were mentioned.
Making the whole exchange sound like a frivolous People magazine interview, Bash gossiped:
Being Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez means being a celebrity and looking like one, red lips and all. She was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2020 and even shot this tutorial for Vogue on her beauty routine....You sometimes take heat for your celebrity status, for being glamorous....You embrace the power?...How do you use that power, the power of femininity, as you describe it?
In addition to the typical media hero-worship of the far-left Democrat, Bash also urged Ocasio-Cortez rip into the cable competitor CNN constantly loses to in the ratings – Fox News. The host commiserated: “I saw that you said once that, ‘I think a lot of people, including my Democratic colleagues, believe the Fox News version of me.’” Ocasio-Cortez whined: “Yeah, yeah. I mean it was – my first term was very painful. It was very, very painful.”
Later in the discussion, a clip ran of Ocasio-Cortez and leftist NBC Late Night host Seth Meyers vilely suggesting criticism from Fox News hosts was really about some perverse physical attraction to the Congresswoman:
SETH MEYERS: A group of people that seem to have an obsession with you is those – our friends over at Fox News. They talk about you a lot. Are you surprised with the speed at which they seem to have shifted all their attention and programming to you?
OCASIO-CORTEZ Yes, I mean, it’s weird.
MEYERS: Yeah.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I’m like, why are so many grown men just obsessed with this, like, 29-year-old? I mean, it’s great. I love the – [applause] On second thought –
Bash eagerly doubled down on the nasty insinuation: “There was a moment on Seth Meyers’ show, while we’re talking about Fox....Let’s just talk turkey here. How much do you think it is that? That you’re an attractive young woman and that’s part of – ” Ocasio-Cortez agreed and argued sexism and racism were the motivation:
Well, yeah. I mean, so much of what they’re doing is so visceral, right? And their job is to like get at this very visceral, reactive place in people, in particularly men. But also tap these visceral lines along race and tap along visceral lines along gender and youth....it reveals a lot about the subconscious of folks that are crafting these narratives and they very often are speaking to these very subconscious narratives about women or about people of color or about Latinos or Latinas or about working-class people.
Moments later, she complained: “And to be so deeply misunderstood because there’s an engine out there and a media engine out there that just churns out intentional misperception to generate that hate, that is – that part I think can be hurtful.” Bash followed up by gently asking: “How are you most misunderstood?”
In the final segment of the hour, Bash cheered on the future political ambitions of Ocasio-Cortez, from the Senate to the presidency:
Being AOC means taking down powerful figures in her own party. She did it in 2018, the question now is, will she try to do it again? Okay, so this is one of the questions that everybody, especially here in New York and definitely in Washington, want to know the answer to, are you going to challenge Senator Schumer in a primary race?...I know you’re not talking about your future ambition but there was a – there are a lot of Post-Its, I know you’ve seen, outside here. One of the Post-It notes here in front of your office, from a constituent, says “AOC for President.”
The hour-long campaign infomerical for Ocasio-Cortez was arguably as bad anything the compromised Cuomo brother would have provided on his partisan program.
This gooey, fact-free tribute to one of the most extreme leftists in Congress was brought to viewers by Trivago and Liberty Mutual. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a transcript of portions of the August 9 special:
9:00 PM ET
DANA BASH: What’s it like to be one of the most famous politicians in America?
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Hey, what’s up?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN A: Love you!
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Love you back!
BASH: To be adored and reviled with seemingly equal passion.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN B: Boo! Boo! Boo, AOC! Boo! Boo!
OCASIO-CORTEZ: You get some of that too.
BASH: And to be known by just three letters, AOC. A strange existence for anyone, let alone a woman who, at age 28, catapulted from no-name New York City bartender to well-known member of Congress featured on glossy magazine covers practically overnight. It’s all part of Being AOC.
Good evening, I’m Dana Bash here at the U.S. Capitol. Tonight is the first in a series of special hours where I spend time with people in the news and people of power and influence and try to find out what it’s like to be them. We begin with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
While celebrities sometimes use their stardom to go into politics, she reached fame as a politician. The 31-year-old is outspoken, uncompromising, and not just navigating the political world, but trying to change it. All while, love her or hate her, everyone is watching.
You’re now in your second term in the House. You have 12 million Twitter followers, nine million Instagram followers. And they all know you by three letters, AOC. So what’s it like to be AOC?
(...)
9:03 PM ET
BASH: You took down a 20-year House veteran. You go head to head with the leadership of your party, and at your age, a lot of women – and I will put myself into this category when I was your age – I was trying to fit into the world as it is, not trying to change it.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah.
BASH: Where do you get that confidence?
(...)
9:08 PM ET
BASH: Part of being Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez means being a target of scorn and criticism, even within her own party.
I saw that you said once that, “I think a lot of people, including my Democratic colleagues, believe the Fox News version of me.”
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, yeah. I mean it was – my first term was very painful. It was very, very painful. And, you know, I came in and I unseated an incumbent that while may not have been very resonant in our community, was very popular inside those, you know, smoke-filled rooms. And so I took away a friend. And I walked in into a very cold environment, even within my own party.
(...)
9:09 PM ET
BASH: Even her friendships are famous. The so-called Squad, House members Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar. Not just political allies, she says, but real friends.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I was able to find kinship and friendship and sisterhood.
BASH: That support helped her get through some very public conflicts, like last July, when a Republican Congressman got in her face on the Capitol steps.
Congressman Ted Yoho referred to as a – I’m quoting here – “fucking bitch” last year.
Congressman Yoho later apologized, sort of.
(...)
9:12 PM ET
BASH: The Ted Yoho fight was not one she welcomed. others are. Like when she’s challenging fellow Democrats to embrace more progressive policies. Breaking glass, she calls it, to get attention for an issue. She’s just one of 435 House members, a junior member, yet one of the most visible. That doesn’t sit well with some colleagues.
(...)
9:14 PM ET
BASH: You are uncompromising in your vision, in your goals for what you want to do. So to people who say that is just not realistic, you say?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: We can be uncompromising in our vision and we can be flexible in our path.
BASH: Not a lot of people would use the word flexible to describe you, Congresswoman.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Here’s the thing, I think we can be strategic, but we also need to put our foot down in figuring out, are we really doing the most that we can?
(...)
9:19 PM ET
BASH: Being Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez means being a celebrity and looking like one, red lips and all. She was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair in 2020 and even shot this tutorial for Vogue on her beauty routine.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I just go right in. I start in the low-risk zone, actually. And, again, I start small and I start working my way out.
BASH: You don’t usually see politicians this way.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Alright, I got my blazer on and I’m ready to seize the day.
BASH: You sometimes take heat for your celebrity status, for being glamorous.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: You came straight out of the tri-state area with this runway look, I love it.
BASH: One thing that you said that really struck me is “femininity has power.” What do you mean by that?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think especially when it comes to women in politics, you’re always being picked apart for even the very small aesthetic decisions that you make. And I think it is because femininity has a tremendous amount of power and influence. I think that there is just as much power in femininity as there is in masculinity.
BASH: You embrace the power?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, yeah.
BASH: How do you use that power, the power of femininity, as you describe it?
(...)
9:23 PM ET
SETH MEYERS: A group of people that seem to have an obsession with you is those – our friends over at Fox News. They talk about you a lot. Are you surprised with the speed at which they seem to have shifted all their attention and programming to you?
OCASIO-CORTEZ Yes, I mean, it’s weird.
MEYERS: Yeah.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I’m like, why are so many grown men just obsessed with this, like, 29-year-old? I mean, it’s great. I love the – [applause] On second thought –
BASH: There was a moment on Seth Meyers’ show, while we’re talking about Fox.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, yeah.
BASH: And you both looked at each other like –
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I wonder why? Yeah, and I mean, the thing is too –
BASH: Let’s just talk turkey here.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Oh, yeah.
BASH: How much do you think it is that? That you’re an attractive young woman and that’s part of –
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, yeah. I mean, so much of what they’re doing is so visceral, right? And their job is to like get at this very visceral, reactive place in people, in particularly men. But also tap these visceral lines along race and tap along visceral lines along gender and youth.
DAGEN MCDOWELL: She photographs well and she speaks with her hands. But beyond that, does she matter? Beauty fades, stupid is forever. [Laughter]
BASH: Do you ever watch Fox News? Do you watch what they say about you?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Not a ton. Every once in a while I do. And I think that it’s really fascinating. I actually find it to be really, really fascinating because it reveals a lot about the subconscious of folks that are crafting these narratives and they very often are speaking to these very subconscious narratives about women or about people of color or about Latinos or Latinas or about working-class people. You know, these caricatures that are developed are not really personal, they are societal.
BASH: So you can watch that and take yourself, you the human being, out of it?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah.
BASH: And look at it almost from an academic point of view?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah. Actually the right-wing critique –
BASH: That seems like it would be pretty hard to do. Because you are a human being.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: It is. The harder one is the critiques from within the party. That is the one – that’s the stuff that hurts. But the right-wing stuff doesn’t hurt.
TUCKER CARLSON: How did someone who’s been in Congress only a few months turn off so many people and so quickly?
BASH: You’ve called yourself one of the most hated people in America. [Laughter] And you laugh.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah.
BASH: But you have to care.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, well, I mean, it’s a duality. And I think for me, it's not – what I care about is not – I think the thing that’s most – that is more impactful is not necessarily being hated, but it’s about being misunderstood. And to be so deeply misunderstood because there’s an engine out there and a media engine out there that just churns out intentional misperception to generate that hate, that is – that part I think can be hurtful.BASH: How are you most misunderstood?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Just thinking that I’m rash, unintelligent and that I intend to do harm. It’s unfortunate. It’s sad.
(...)
9:51 PM ET
BASH: Being AOC means taking down powerful figures in her own party. She did it in 2018, the question now is, will she try to do it again?
Okay, so this is one of the questions that everybody, especially here in New York and definitely in Washington, want to know the answer to, are you going to challenge Senator Schumer in a primary race? [Laughter]
(...)
9:54 PM ET
BASH: I know you’re not talking about your future ambition but there was a – there are a lot of Post-Its, I know you’ve seen, outside here. One of the Post-It notes here in front of your office, from a constituent, says “AOC for President.”
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yeah, I don’t – you know, I struggle with this because I don’t want little girls watching or anything like that to like lower their sights or anything in that direction, but for me, I feel that if my – if that was in the scope of my ambition, it would chip away at my courage today. And I decide – I’ve decided that my courage in the present moment is more important than trying to – you know, being able to stand up and take tough positions that I think will help people but may be controversial today, that to me right now is more important than having some sort of career path or milestone.
BASH: Because you would have to be more calculating, if that were the case?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Right, and I think what happens a lot is that – I think that what happens a lot in politics is that people are so motivated to run for certain higher office that they compromise in fighting for people today. And the idea is that if you can be as clean of a slate or as blank of a slate, that it makes it easier for you to run for higher office later on, and –
BASH: Be authentic.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: To be authentic. And I’ve decided that being me is more important than being anything else.
(...)
