Somewhere around three and a half years ago, a notorious business man announced he was planning to run for President of the United States as a Republican in the 2016 election.  The left-leaning media howled, partially at Donald Trump’s seemingly foolish notion, and partly because it was a given that Hillary Clinton would succeed President Obama and continue the policies and programs of the Democratic Party.

Over time, some 16 or so Republicans threw their hats into the ring, and still the media fixated mostly on Donald Trump.  He was the clown that was ratings gold.  He provided fodder for nightly news casts, opinion shows and all in between.  Late-night TV marveled at the thought of President Trump, and comedy shows staged skits highlighting his shortcomings and mannerisms.

The concept that any American voter could even consider casting their ballot for Trump was unimaginable to the mainstream media.  Well, maybe a few conspiracy theorists or some survival nuts in Montana, but even the racist Republican party, with all its warts and blemishes would never seriously consider Trump as the nominee.

But the more the mainstream focused on Trump to boost their ratings, the more people started to actually listen to Trump, and ironically, his critics.  They began to see Trump as the bullied rather than the bully.  And some of Trump’s statements, albeit just a few in the beginning, started to not sound as far-fetched as the media was portraying them.

In short, Trump started to grow on a good many Americans who were not exactly enamored with the lack of Hope and Change that was promised in the previous administration.  And all the while, the presumptive Democrat nominee, Secretary Clinton, was seeing her own campaign implode with perceived scandal after perceived scandal, and she was also exposing herself as a very flawed candidate as well.

Trump seized on the theatrical moments of the election, and using the old Hollywood axiom, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” not only garnered the Republican nomination, but the Office of the President as well, leaving the Democrats and the media dumbfounded by what they unwittingly helped to create.

The media realized only too late the role their quest for ratings had in boosting the popularity of Donald Trump, and while it may not have been the deciding factor in the race, their constant bombardment of all things Trump certainly was a contributing factor in Trump’s election to the nation’s highest office.

Now comes Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, the current darling of the far-left Progressive movement, and also the darling of right-wing conservative news shows and websites.  Every blunder, every mis-characterization, every outlandish proposal from the lips of Ms. Ocasio Cortez is being played and re-played ad nauseum across the air waves.  Almost everything she says or does winds up as a meme on social media and is viewed millions of times.

So, what, you ask?  Remember Donald Trump?  He was the laughing stock of the left-wing media.  Every blunder, every mis-characterization, every outlandish proposal from the lips of Trump was handled in much the same manner as Ocasio Cortez.  Remember, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”?

Just as some of Trump’s then-seemingly wild ideas fell on ears eager to accept a new look at the old problems, so are some of Ms. Ocasio Cortez’ ideas.  While it may seem unfathomable today to imagine her running for president in say 2024, the same opinion was held of Trump in 2014.

Most likely her flame will burn out of her own doing, but the conservative media would do well to restrain their non-stop exposure of Ms. Ocasio Cortez.  History has a way of repeating itself from time to time.