Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said during an interview on Thursday night that part of the reason that she did not attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration was because she does not feel safe around Republicans.
“You knew that people would ask why you weren’t there,” CNN host Chris Cuomo said. “This was a good cause, from your perspective, of dealing with your constituency. But this was supposed to be a show of force, and unity, and you weren’t there. Explain it.”
“Yeah, you know, I think we also had very real security concerns as well, as you mentioned earlier,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “We still don’t yet feel safe around other Members of Congress and—”
“How many are ‘We?'” Cuomo pressed.
“I think a very considerable amount,” Ocasio-Cortez answered. “A lot of members do not feel safe. In fact, just today–”
“You really think that colleagues of yours in Congress, may do you dirty?” Cuomo asked.
“Yes, well, one just tried to bring a gun on the floor of the House today,” she responded. “I believe it was Representative Andy Harris of Maryland. He tried to bring in a gun on to the House floor. For individuals who don’t know, guns are not allowed in the District of Columbia. And certainly the House floor is, there are separate House rules that prohibit the bringing in of firearms. Now, these are rules that date back to the Civil War. And these are individuals that are trying to sneak firearms either illegally or in direct violation of House rules. Why does a member of Congress need to sneak a gun on to the House floor?”
Ocasio-Cortez made it clear on her Twitter account early on Friday morning that she was referring to being afraid of Republicans when she quote retweeted a video clip from the interview and wrote: “GOP lawmakers campaigned with images of them cocking guns next to photos of myself. Now they are trying to violate DC law and House rules to sneak guns onto the House floor two weeks after a white supremacist insurrection that killed 5 people. Why?”
Ocasio-Cortez said that she did not care what Harris’s intentions were when he brought the firearm with him to Congress because “the impact is to put all 435 Members of Congress in danger.”
“He tried to hand off his gun to another Member, who didn’t have a license, and any responsible gun-owner knows that you don’t just hand off your gun to another individual. You have to clear it, etcetera,” she claimed. “And that just goes to show, it doesn’t matter what your intention is, if you are irresponsible, if you are trying to break rules, you’re trying to sneak a firearm, on to the floor of the House, I don’t care if you accidentally set it off, I don’t care if you intentionally set it off, I don’t care if you don’t set it off at all, you are put – you are endangering the lives of Members of Congress.”
Ocasio-Cortez also targeted Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) over the objections they raised during the certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory, saying that they should be expelled. Even Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has defended Cruz and Hawley, saying, “I think the Senate is a place of freedom and people come here to speak their peace, and they do, and they provide a kind of leadership.”
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