Charles Payne: Democrats are 'afraid' of their 'de facto leader' Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is making major waves in the party, and her fellow lawmakers are afraid of her, according to Fox Business host Charles Payne.

In response to President Trump's comments about the Democrat from New York and her proposed climate change reform, the Green New Deal, Payne said Ocasio-Cortez has "thrown her weight around" in Congress and terrified those around her.

"We just saw a vote where the Democrats ran away from it [the Green New Deal] when they had the opportunity to, but as soon as the Green New Deal came out, all of the major presidential candidates jumped on board, and in fact, many of them are doubling down," Payne said on "America's Newsroom" on Wednesday.

CHARLES PAYNE CALLS OCASIO-CORTEZ'S DEFENSE OF GREEN NEW DEAL 'DISINGENUOUS' 

President Trump has consistently taken aim at Ocasio-Cortez and the Green New Deal, most recently during a speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee's spring dinner on Tuesday. While addressing attendees, he encouraged them not to vote down the Green New Deal just yet because he wants to run against it in 2020.

"If they beat me with the Green New Deal, I deserve to lose," President Trump said. A vote on the Green New Deal was set last week by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a bid to divide Democratic senators on the issue, and the majority of lawmakers voted not to begin debate on the non-binding resolution.

In response, Payne labeled the Democrats behavior towards the plan as "absurd," and said that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is "running the show over there, bottom line."

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"Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has thrown her weight around on a number of things, and she's dramatically changed the Democratic party, and she has become the de facto leader without a doubt," he continued.

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