Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has former President Donald Trump to thank for her 2018 Congressional win, according to her one-time political opponent, former Rep. Joe Crowley.

Crowley attributed his defeat to the liberal Democrat to a “confluence of things that have happened at the time,” including Trump’s win in the 2016 presidential election.

“I have a better, real clear understanding of just how powerful the election of Donald Trump was,” the former Congressman said during a recent podcast interview “Pro Politics with Zac McCary.”

“In many respects, it lit the fire onto the base of our party, and I think that’s a good thing in many respects, you know. Maybe personally, it didn’t work out for me, but I think he created the energy we needed to oust him as president in four years.” 

In the interview, Crowley reflected on losing his seat in the House after serving 20 years.

“You know, I never owned the seat in that congressional district, he said. “A congressional district is not owned by any one person. It was owned by the people of the 14th Congressional District.” 

Despite his shocking primary loss, Crowley noted that he feels at peace with his time in Congress. 

“I had an incredible 20-year-career in the House of Representatives, and I look back very fondly on my years of service, the people I got to meet, to know. It changed my life, my family’s lives. I look back with nothing but fondness and admiration for the people that I worked with,” he said. 

During her campaign and since taking office, Ocasio-Cortez has been a staunch critic of the 45th president, as well as his close supporters. 

In the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the New York lawmaker acted as a leading push for the second set of articles of impeachment against Trump to be introduced on the House floor. 

“Our main priority is to ensure the removal of Donald Trump as president of the United States,” Ocasio-Cortez told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos at the time. 

“Every minute and every hour that he is in office represents a clear and present danger, not just to the United States Congress but frankly to the country.”

She has also blasted the former president as a racist and unethical, alleging in late 2019 that he is “afraid” of “strong women,” and “Latino women.”