Geraldo Rivera Holds Out Hope That Ocasio-Cortez Will Grow Up And Become ‘Rational’ Someday

Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera said he believes Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York will soon become “rational” and find a way to ground herself in reality.

Rivera was discussing socialism and its connection to the downfall of Venezuela, on “Fox & Friends” Friday, when he referenced Ocasio-Cortez and the naivety of her political views.

“My first reaction is the old saying, if you’re not liberal as a young person you have no heart, if you’re not conservative — more conservative when you’re older you have no brain. I think that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is doing a great job,” he said. “She will age and evolve and become more rational, reasonable, or have ideas that I think are more grounded in reality. Socialism has destroyed Venezuela. It’s a country I know well.”

Rivera said Venezuela has become a socialist disaster that has destroyed its once valuable oil industry, crippled its economy and triggered massive inflation.

“I was there many, many other times. But I was there in 2003. My daytime talk show used to air there,” he said.

“Now to have [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro, who is the heir to Hugo Chavez, taking this country, making it a socialist wreck — they have destroyed their oil industry, despite the fact they have the largest petroleum reserves certainly in the hemisphere, maybe on Earth,” he said. “They have destroyed the economy. They’ve had inflation in the tens of thousands percent. It takes you a stack of money this high to buy a quart of milk in Venezuela now. Maduro’s a thief, he’s a cheat.”