Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), whom the former head of the DNC once anointed as the future of the Democrat Party, faced widespread condemnation across the political spectrum on Friday after she attempted to explain why she voted “present” for a bill that would have provided Israel with funding for a missile defense system that protects them for Palestinian terrorist attacks.
In a roughly 900-word statement, AOC explicitly stated that she wanted “to be clear” that she was “opposed to this bill.”
After explaining over the course of several hundred words why she really opposed helping one of America’s top allies defend its citizens from terror attacks, AOC then pivoted to “the process of bringing it to the House floor” being “deeply unjust.”
AOC attacked Democrat House leadership, calling their decision to quickly vote on the bill “reckless,” and then claiming the bill was “most controversial,” even though it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, 420-9.
AOC implied that the situation created a “tinderbox of vitriol” where she became the victim of “disingenuous framing, deeply racist accusations and depictions.”
“Yes, I wept,” AOC said after Congress made the decision to help Israel defend its citizens from being murdered in terrorist attacks. “I wept at the complete lack of care for the human beings that are impacted by these decisions, I wept at an institution choosing a path of maximum volatility and minimum consideration for its own political convenience.”
“And I wept at the complete lack of regard I often feel our party has to its most vulnerable and endangered members and communities – because the death threats and dangerous vitriol we’d inevitably receive by rushing such a sensitive, charged, and under-considered vote weren’t worth delaying it for even a few hours to help us do the work necessary to open a conversation of understanding,” AOC continued. “It certainly wasn’t the first time people’s wellbeing was tossed aside for political convenience, and sadly I do not believe it will be the last.”
AOC faced widespread criticism over the statement, with most saying that the statement amounted to nothing more than word salad.
Some of the most notable responses to AOC included:
- Batya Ungar-Sargon, Newsweek: “I don’t understand much of this statement, though I now think my reading of AOC’s vote was pretty wrong. What matters most here is that per AOC, ‘the majority of constituent feedback’ asked her to ‘quell the volatility of this moment in our community.’ Twitter, meet constituents.”
- Sean Davis, The Federalist: “Cortez is little more than a functionally illiterate woke actress, and this selection of word vomit is what happens when on-screen talent try to write their own lines.”
- Kimberley Strassel, The Wall Street Journal, wrote mockingly: “Allow me to bore you with a two-page letter that still doesn’t explain why I voted present.”
- Helaine Olen, The Washington Post: “No explanation would have been better than this.”
- Miriam Elder, The Hive: “Are AOC’s sharp political instincts waning? Met Gala now this weird letter that postures one way while failing to explain why she didn’t vote against it.”
- Moti Ankari: “The best part of AOC voting present is now more people hate her.”
- David Harsanyi, National Review: “This is just gibberish.”
- StopAntisemitism.org: “You voted ‘present’ because you’re salivating over Chuck Schumer’s seat.”
- Noah Pollak: “This BDS supporter, collaborator in the Squad’s obsessive slanders of Israel, and defender of her colleagues’ anti-semitism, is complaining about the ‘discourse’ around Israel and declaring herself the victim (she’s *always* a victim!) of ‘hateful targeting.'”
- Josh Jordan: “That’s a whole lot of words to never explain the reason for the letter which was why she voted present on the Iron Dome funding as opposed to no.”
AOC faced the most intense criticism from her far-left base and many of the responses were too vulgar to share, however, here are two of the most notable ones:
- Ryan Knight: “That’s a whole lot of words to say that you are a coward who didn’t have the courage to stand up for the Palestinian people when it mattered most.”
- Fiorella Isabel: “AOC always makes herself a victim. Ultimately she voted ‘present’ on apartheid because of a career move. It’s not the first time. She did this same move to fund Capitol Police with $1.9 Billion after initially saying ‘no.’ If your can’t handle doing your job, get the f*** out!”