On Thursday, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended Elizabeth Warren against a Washington Post opinion writer who took aim at the Massachusetts senator’s performance at Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate, Newsweek reports. According to Jennifer Rubin, Warren looked “mean and angry” during her highly praised fiery performance.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to Rubin’s comment on Twitter and said that Warren’s debating was “effective.” She suggested that anger is a normal response to things like racial profiling, sexual harassment and bank fraud.
“Anger at injustice is quite appropriate,” the progressive firebrand tweeted.
The 3o-year-old congresswoman also touched on her belief that Rubin is feeding into misogyny.
“It’s truly time to retire the misogynist trope that angry men are powerful, yet angry women are unhinged,” she began.
“It’s such gaslighting nonsense. You SHOULD be mad at abuse of power. The real question is how one channels that energy into positive change that creates justice.”
In response, Rubin agreed that sometimes anger is an appropriate response but suggested that such outrage shouldn’t be thrown at “everyone all the time.”
“Necessary or fair to insult Klobuchar by saying her healthcare proposal fits on a post it?” she asked, before pointing to Warren’s attacks on former Vice President Joe Biden.
Bloomberg went into the #DemDebate as the Titanic. And tonight? That Titanic met an iceberg named “Elizabeth Warren.” pic.twitter.com/V7Vth9MWvP
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) February 20, 2020
Per BBC , Warren’s performance received praise on social media, with users noting her attacks on billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Notably, Warren blasted the former mayor for his past comments on women, as well as his record on women’s rights. She called Bloomberg out for his private agreements with former employees who accused him of sexual harassment and others who filed hostile workplace lawsuits against him.
At one point, Warren asked Bloomberg if he would allow his past accusers to break their nondisclosure agreements , to which he refused.
“Senator — no,” he said.
After the debate, Warren continued to slam Bloomberg’s record.
“I hope you heard what Mayor Bloomberg’s defence of decades of mistreatment of women was: ‘I’ve been nice to some women.’”
According to RealClearPolitics , Warren’s polling support has been on the decline since October 2019. While some commentators believe this dip is due to her support of Medicare for All, others suggest it stems from her equivocation on the issue. She is currently fourth in national polling average with 12.3 percent support.
In terms of delegates, Warren has earned 8 from the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, putting her in third place behind Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 21 and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s 22.
