Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to serve in the U.S. Congress, does have her fair share of detractors, with most of them seeming to be Republican males. The House representative from New York, who defeated longtime Democratic incumbent Joe Crowley on her way to the House seat, has seen GOP members undermine her experience and credibility, and on Thursday, she was reportedly booed by Republicans during the vote for House Speaker, according to the Independent .
On Thursday evening, Ocasio-Cortez claimed on Twitter that when she verbally cast her vote for Nancy Pelosi as the House reconvened to elect its speaker after the festive period, murmurs of apparent disapproval rang through the House.
“Over 200 members voted for Nancy Pelosi today, yet the GOP only booed one: me,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter . “Don’t hate me cause you ain’t me, fellas.”
A reporter for the New York Times seemed to corroborate Ocasio-Cortez’s account, writing on Twitter that Republicans did indeed boo her when she cast the vote for Pelosi, although he claimed that GOP members did so “gently and playfully.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had one thing to say to the GOP congressmen who booed her. https://t.co/K2sXpSXL6S
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) January 4, 2019
In fact, while Ocasio-Cortez definitely seems to have irritated more than a few senior Republicans with her outspokenness, it appears the “boos” that rang out in the House yesterday were more banter than anything. Soon after she casts her vote for Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez and her Democrat colleagues can be seen exchanging smiles before laughter rings out in the House.
Even so, it shows that Ocasio-Cortez wouldn’t be wholly welcomed in a House teeming with people much older than her, especially as her detractors seem to be doing all they can do to harm her reputation. Earlier this week, a video showing Ocasio-Cortez doing a dance from the movie Breakfast Club went viral, but instead of hurting her reputation, it seems to have endeared her even more with young people — and the internet.
Latest attempt to embarrass Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez backfires https://t.co/ItsgPgyhc7 pic.twitter.com/0wRkMUDZAY
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 4, 2019
The Republican ire against Ocasio-Cortez is not surprising, especially as she has been vehemently critical of their policies. She has also roundly criticized Donald Trump since she first launched her campaign. She is unabashed and recently claimed that she is a “radical,” even alarming some centrist Democrats who fear that the influx of such views could be detrimental to their own chances of contesting the 2020 elections. But neither the boos nor the efforts to delegitimize the youngest woman member of Congress seem to be working, as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appears to be just getting started.
