Trump calls AOC ‘a poor student’ in latest attack on Green New Deal

President has repeatedly directed personal jibes at Ocasio-Cortez and ‘The Squad’ during his rallies

President Donald Trump took a swing at the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) on Sunday, calling her a “poor student with absolutely no environment experience” as he mocked her Green New Deal proposal aimed to tackle the climate crisis.  

Mr Trump was addressing a rally in Carson City airport, Nevada, where he warned the audience that the Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will “impose a $4 trillion tax” and “spend it on the Green New Deal”.

Introduced in 2019 by Ms Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey, the Green New Deal plans for a public infrastructure overhaul: repairing, upgrading, expanding of roads, railways, bridges, energy grids and water systems in a way that cuts pollution, while providing jobs along the way. It would also include an infrastructure revamp that would replace lead pipes to ensure clean water, and build-outs of green infrastructure so cities can better handle stormwater, amongst other schemes.  

During the rally, Mr Trump claimed that Mr Biden and “his socialists” will kill jobs, dismantle police departments, dissolve borders, confiscate guns and “impose a $4 trillion tax hike” on American companies and themselves. "Do you know what $4 trillion is? That’s the largest tax hike in history,” said Mr Trump.  

“They are gonna spend it on the Green New Deal. Conceived by the brilliant AOC plus three. A poor student with absolutely no environmental experience,” he added. The president often uses the phrase “AOC plus three” to refer to the New York congresswoman and her three progressive Democratic colleagues, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who are collectively known as The Squad.  

This is not the first time that the president has attacked the New York congresswoman. Earlier in August, Mr Trump said on Fox Business that Ms Ocasio-Cortez was "not even a smart person" during her time at Boston University. The New York congresswoman responded by challenging Mr Trump to release his college transcript to compare grades, saying she would do the same.