Ari Melber Zings Former GOP Congressman Who Called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez A Barista

MSNBC host Ari Melber fired back at former Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) on Tuesday night after the lawmaker dismissed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) as merely a “29-year-old coffee barista.”

Melber was moderating a panel about President Donald Trump’s leaked private schedules, which were published by Axios on Sunday and indicate the president spends a significant portion of his day in unstructured “executive time,” which led Kingston to insult the freshman representative from New York.

“Ari, let me say, No. 1, here we have a 29-year-old coffee barista telling a man who’s made billions of dollars running management and enterprises and investments and real estate all over the globe, and she’s going to tell him how to manage the world,” Kingston said.

Melber interjected immediately.

“She’s not being quoted today based on the fact that she worked on retail or in service,” Melber said. “She’s quoted as a member of Congress, the same title as yours. Do you not give her the same respect of the title you held?”

Kingston seemingly ignored Melber’s question and went on to praise Trump. The Hollywood Reporter said Monday that the former congressman, who was a contributor on CNN, was no longer with the cable news network. CNN reportedly did not renew Kingston’s contract.

Some MSNBC viewers, including “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill, expressed their frustration that Kingston was out at CNN but showed up on MSNBC one day later.

Melber defended Kingston’s appearance on his show, arguing that his presence was newsworthy.

Take a look at the MSNBC host’s response in the video above.