Karl Rove tells AOC to 'get a grip on reality' over Homeland Security comments

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Ocasio-Cortez's call to get rid of Homeland Security is moronic, naive, says Karl Rove

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says U.S. should get rid of Department of Homeland Security; Fox News contributor Rove reacts.

Karl Rove had strong words for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Wednesday, ripping the congresswoman for suggesting she would get rid of the Department of Homeland Security and calling the idea "stupid, moronic, naive."

"Does she really want us to go back to the age in ... which you can go and board an airplane carrying a box cutter or a bomb? Does she really want our borders to be unprotected? Does she really want to abolish the customs? Does she want to get rid of the Secret Service? The Department of Homeland Security has kept us safe," Rove said on "The Story with Martha MacCallum."

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The congresswoman said Friday, “I think we need to undo a lot of... the egregious mistakes that the Bush administration did."

When asked if she would "get rid" of Homeland Security, Ocasio-Cortez said, "I think so."

Rove, the former adviser to President George W. Bush, recalled informing the president that a plane had hit the World Trade Center on 9/11, and the events leading to the department's formation.

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"The Department of Homeland Security was a great accomplishment bipartisan in nature. It protects our country who provided a new way to meet the challenges of the 21st century and those challenges have not gone away. No matter what Congressman Ocasio-Cortez may think," Rove said.

Rove called Ocasio-Cortez and her freshman congressional cohorts "nuts," saying the country still needed the department.

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"We face a threat from abroad. We have to have secure borders. We have Islamic terrorists who want to destroy our country," Rove said.

"I'd say wake up and ... get a grip on reality and realize that you are dealing in a world that requires things like the Department of Homeland Security."