Former Trump Treasury official: 'Do not underestimate' Ocasio Cortez in 2028

A former Trump Treasury official warned the Republican party Friday not to "underestimate" Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), citing her accessibility to voters through social media and the congresswoman's "grassroots support."

"She was an early adopter of social media... so she's connecting directly to voters," Monica Crowley, a former public affairs official in the Treasury Department during the first Trump administration, told Lisa Boothe on Fox News's "The Ingraham Angle" on Friday.

"However, just a word of warning to the Republicans, to my party: Do not underestimate AOC. She’s young, she’s vibrant, she’s attractive," Crowley added.

"I think she’s wrong on everything, but she does have real grassroots support. And all of the energy and activism in the Democrat party remains with the revolutionary left, of which she is a part," she said.

Though Democrats have been licking their wounds after Republicans secured a trifecta in The White House and both chambers of Congress on Election Day, the party has also begun to look toward who its leader could be in 2028.

Ocasio-Cortez's name has been floated to take on the role of leading the party in 2028 as Democrats have been impressed with her ability to “cut through the BS and tell it like it is," as one Democratic strategist told The Hill.

Her critics and supporters also note her savvy use of social media to speak directly to voters.

While Ocasio-Cortez has often been aligned with progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), she has taken a more centrist stance on many issues during the Biden administration.

She has accused President Biden of "enabling" what she calls a "genocide" in Gaza at the hands of Israel's military, but was also one of Biden's staunchest supporters as he faced growing pressure in the party to end his campaign this summer.