Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Compares Trump To New York City Bar Patrons
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the new Democratic congresswoman from New York, has been known for her witty social media retorts, whether directed at Republican members of Congress or hostile media members. Now, she’s apparently entered a war of words with the president of the United States.
In a 60 Minutes interview last week, Ocasio-Cortez was asked by Anderson Cooper whether President Trump is racist, she replied that there’s “no question” he is.
“The president certainly didn’t invent racism,” the congresswoman, who at 28 is the youngest person in Congress, said in the interview. “But he’s also given a voice to it and expanded it and created a platform for those things” and pointed at “the words he uses, which are historic dog whistles of white supremacy.”
The White House denied the charge the next day. On Monday, when the president went before the press outside the White House while en route to New Orleans, he was asked about Ocasio-Cortez’s charge of presidential racism.
“Who did?” he asked.
When told by a reporter, he replied, “who cares?”
Ocasio-Cortez, characteristically, replied on Twitter.
“I bartended for *years* in New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I understand guys like this like the back of my hand. We got under his skin.”
Trump is very much a creature of New York and may have some things in common with men who misbehave in that city’s bars. However, Trump is famously a non-drinker.
I bartended for *years* in New York City. I understand guys like this like the back of my hand.
We got under his skin ??? https://t.co/SUXDVVY5tM
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 14, 2019
Yet, the two New York politicians do have something in common. According to a study released this week by Axios of which political Twitter accounts had the most interactions on Twitter during a one-month period that ended January 11, the president was first with 39.8 million. But Ocasio-Cortez came in second in the rankings with 11.8 million, despite only getting sworn into Congress during the latter part of that 30-day period.
Sen. Kamala Harris, the California lawmaker who is running for president in 2020, was third with 4.6 million (combined across her personal and Senate accounts), slightly ahead of former President Barack Obama, with 4.4 million. Next in the rankings were the accounts of CNN, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator Charles Schumer, The Hill, ABC, the New York Times, MSNBC, NBC News, and Sean Hannity. The study does not differentiate between positive and negative interactions.
The period of Ocasio-Cortez’s interactions includes her first days in Congress, as well as the episode in which an anonymous conservative account shared a video of a college-aged Ocasio-Cortez doing a dance from the movie The Breakfast Club.
