Trump distorts education record of Boston University grad AOC during rally in must-win Wisconsin

GOP strategist say 2020 race shaping up ‘eerily similar’ to one in 2016 the president won in a surprise

John T. Bennett
Washington Bureau Chief
Wednesday 28 October 2020 01:38 GMT
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'Did she go to college?': Trump insults AOC

Donald Trump mocked progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and distorted her education record during a rally in a must-win Rust Belt state.

“He’s against oil. He’s against guns. And he’s against religion, right?” Mr Trump said, distorting the former VP’s beliefs and record. “I’m the oil person. How can you have a little lead when you need it to fire up your factories?”

He was referring to his small lead in Texas and other energy producing states, where he trails Mr Biden with just over six days left until Election Day.

Mr Trump used that portion of his second of three Tuesday rallies to pivot to his part of his now-on-repeat rally spiel in which he tries to tie Mr Biden to his party’s progressive wing. They want a dramatic environmental plan called the “Green New Deal” enacted that experts say would require a fundamental overhaul of the US economy, complete with a price tag in the trillions.

“They don’t even know how to do it,” Mr Trump said, seeming to allude to Democrats so far being unable to explain how they would pay for their bold proposal that many establishment Democrats oppose.

“They have like AOC Plus Three,” he said of the New York Democrat and her fellow class of 2018 House women progressives. “She has no clue. I don’t even think she studied it. Maybe in high school she studied it.”

The crowd at a small speedway in West Salem laughed.

“Did she even go to college?” he asked to more laughter. “Tell me, because I don’t know. … But it is not heavy in the environment.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez graduated cum laude from Boston University with a double major in international relations and economics.

Mr Trump made the remark in a state he trails by 5.5 percentage points; he won it four years ago over Hillary Clinton in a surprise.

Like now, polls showed her winning outside the margins of error of most surveys there.

One GOP strategists contacted Tuesday by The Independent said the 2020 race is breaking “eerily similar” to the one Mr Trump took four years ago.

“A few percentage points in a few swing states, with a hidden Trump vote. That’s what we’ve got. Just like last time,” the Republican political pro said. “I wouldn’t bet against the president. But I think Biden has the advantage.”

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