Are Americans ‘Ready to Be Ruled’ by ‘Progressives in New York and California’?

The “superstars” of the Democratic Party “are now more left-wing than ever before,” and Americans — ahead of the 2020 presidential election — need to decide whether they’re “really ready” to “be ruled by the values and policies of progressives in New York and California,” Fox News host Laura Ingraham noted Wednesday night on “The Ingraham Angle.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, is one of the Left’s rising stars. The Democratic socialist stunned the nation last summer when she pulled off an upset primary victory over 10-term former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), former chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

Ocasio-Cortez and her progressive ideology are helping shift the Democratic Party even further to the Left. And leaders from liberal havens like California and New York are matching her rhetoric while pushing increasingly progressive policies.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) (above right, beside Ocasio-Cortez) announced last week that the Big Apple would roll out free health care to all residents, including illegal immigrants.

De Blasio also said Sunday in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that “our party is going through a serious debate. And there are still a lot of moderate voices in the party that did not learn the lessons of 2016 and are not listening to what people need in this country.”

“So, I want to push this whole party, and I want to inform this debate in this country about the fact that we could go a lot farther. We could be a lot bolder than what we’re doing now,” added de Blasio, who is eying a potential 2020 presidential bid.

California is also charting an increasingly progressive course under new Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.)

Related: Gavin Newsom, New Governor of California, Vows to Fight the White House

“The 2020 election cycle has already begun as the superstars of the Democratic Party are now more left-wing than ever before,” Ingraham warned. “Republicans ought to take the progressive takeover of the Democratic Party very seriously and offer a strong counter-narrative.”

“Are Americans really ready to be ruled by the values and policies of progressives in New York and California? Let’s hope not,” Ingraham said.

The Fox News host also said that “it’s a mistake” for conservatives “to kind of ridicule” Ocasio-Cortez and “write her off as some anomaly” and an “upstart.”

“She’s as close to a thought leader that the Democratic Party has today, and she has a massive social media following. She’s both charismatic and she’s committed to transforming both our economic system and our culture,” Ingraham continued.

American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp agreed — and admitted he actually fears the effect Ocasio-Cortez could have on her party and on the nation’s future.

Though Ocasio-Cortez “doesn’t seem to know basic fundamentals about constitutional government, American law and economics,” according to Schlapp, still he urged conservatives to wake up.

Related: Trump Dismisses Ocasio-Cortez’s Charge of Racism: ‘Who Cares?’

“I’m not mocking her. I actually fear because it’s working. People are listening to this. They’re listening to the siren’s song,” Schlapp warned. “We need to wake up and we need to educate our kids to push back on this radicalization because America won’t be the same if we don’t win these battles.”

Raheem Kassam, a British journalist and the former editor-in-chief of Breitbart, warned Democrats they “won’t get those reins back” or retake power completely if they let Ocasio-Cortez rule the party.

“We have had in charge of the Labour Party now a hardline socialist, Jeremy Corbyn. And you guys need to take Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — the Democrats need to take her more seriously and treat her as more of a danger than conservatives do,” Kassam said. “Because actually what Jeremy Corbyn has done in … the Labour Party — he cannot get his party to take power. Even if he won an election, he wouldn’t hold the confidence of Parliament at the moment.”

“We need to wake up and educate our kids to push back on this radicalization because America won’t be the same if we don’t win these battles.”

But Democratic strategist Monique Pressley said taking Ocasio-Cortez seriously wouldn’t mean acknowledging her as a threat.

“Let’s take her seriously. I agree,” Pressley said. “Look, we have to win everywhere. And I’m not in favor of us just winning on coasts … I believe that you have to have a message that speaks to everyone.”

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