MSNBC pundit Steve Schmidt on Wednesday said that Democratic congressional nominee Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) won by running on “dishonest progressivism” and insisted that it was as dangerous as “dishonest Trumpism.”

While appearing on an MSNBC panel discussion, Schmidt showed that he still has the heart of a conservative even though he recently quit the Republican Party in protest.

MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle argued that moderate conservatives are willing to “look the other way” when Trump lies because they see “far-left candidates” winning elections.

“There was a time in American politics when it was a business of persuasion,” Schmidt agreed. “You would try to persuade people that your ideas were slightly better than the other side. It has become a game of incitement.”

“And what Trump is doing is radicalizing American politics,” the conservative strategist continued. “And he is a beneficiary the more radical politics becomes. When it becomes a game of incitement between a far left who says everybody is going to have a government job, everybody is going to have daycare, everybody is going to have retirement, free schools, free college education — as we careen toward $30 trillion in debt.”

Schmidt added: “When we have dishonest progressivism and we have dishonest Trumpism and an alienated middle that surrenders. They break their will to fight back. They become disenfranchised and hopeless about the idea that free market capitalism or liberal democracy can prevail in a radical era. That is the danger.”

Watch the video below from MSNBC.