Watch Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explain Medicare-for-all, razz Molly Ringwald, and roast Mitch McConnell

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez zings Mitch McConnell

"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was more recognizable to a focus group of Wisconsin swing voters than every Democratic presidential prospect except Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, and Elizabeth Warren," Alexi McCammond reports at Axios, citing a focus group last week of 12 voters. The freshman Democrat from New York "has only been in Congress for a few months, yet she's breaking through even in rural areas of the Midwest. It's not a great start for the 2020 Democrats who aren't recognizable at all in Wisconsin, a key battleground state, despite all the national attention they're getting."

But it makes some sense. Ocasio-Cortez has excited young progressives and struck fascinated terror in Fox News pundits and conservative activists. "So, with AOC — as I call her, to save time — raising so many questions, I thought it was time to let members of my staff ask her questions of their own," Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show.

In response to Late Show staff questions, Ocasio-Cortez explained how Medicare-or-all would work, named the one thing she'd change about Washington ("I think I'd make everyone relax a little bit more"), threw shade at questioner Molly Ringwald, and fielded a question about whether she has anything in common with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), blocker of all legislation Ocasio-Cortez holds dear. "Yeah," she responded, "we both have an awkward relationship with Mitch McConnell." Ouch. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.