Congresswoman-elect Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) responded to comparisons to far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and discussed the GOP pivot to Hispanic outreach during an interview with The Daily Wire.
Luna, 33, flipped a blue seat in the 13th district by a healthy eight-point margin on Tuesday, contributing to Florida’s red wave.
Referring to Luna by her initials, APL, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk told The Washington Post last week, “APL — possibly against AOC. That’ll be really fun.” We asked Luna about the comparison, noting the Republican’s youth and standing as a “new” type of conservative, seeming opposition to AOC and the far-leftism of “The Squad.”
“I do think that my ideas are better than theirs, and I also think I am way more qualified than they are,” Luna responded. “I think their message is one of hate and division, and mine is one of unity and common sense. I am their polar opposite.”
“But I also think Charlie’s right in the sense that I am a younger representative. I think I’m actually the youngest Republican female representative in the conference,” she added. Luna turned 33 years old in May, the same age as AOC, a self-professed Democratic socialist. “I think that I’m very relatable, which is important for younger generations.”
“I have a different background, too,” Luna said. The congresswoman-elect was raised by her mother, who is of Mexican descent; her father, who is Mexican and German, struggled with addiction and was out of the picture during her childhood.
Luna went on to say she “looks forward to having discussions” with members of “The Squad,” feeling “immune” to some of the typical attacks from Democrats.
“I think the things that they would typically revert back to, especially with identity politics, I don’t think that it works the same against me,” she told The Daily Wire. “So we’ll have to have real discussions. How are they gonna tell me that I’m anti-immigration or that I’m racist or that I haven’t served or that I don’t know what it’s like to experience all these things? I’ve literally grown up in the most abnormal circumstances. I am immune from it, I guess.”
The GOP saw huge Latino gains in the state of Florida. Luna said Hispanic voices within the GOP are “incredibly important,” especially now, as she sees Democrats shift focus from the black vote toward Hispanics. “We are the largest voting minority in the country,” she added.
“I think conservative media really needs to start talking to these people, because the fact is the Left is now pivoting from the issue of the black vote, and they’re now focusing solely on the Hispanic vote,” Luna said. “They’ve basically bought up all of our conservative media in Miami-Dade, they started to launch ‘fact-checking’ operations against conservative Hispanic influencers online saying that they’re pushing disinformation.”
“Part of the reason why the Hispanic vote went so red is a majority of us are entrepreneurs, small business owners, — we have doctors, lawyers, congressmen,” Luna explained. “But when you have leadership in the DNC like Nancy Pelosi calling us ‘crop pickers‘; things like having Jill Biden refer to us as ‘breakfast tacos,’ that doesn’t sit well with anyone. I mean, it’s just insulting.”
“A lot of people, especially those who’ve fled communism and socialism, saw what was happening with the Biden administration choosing to allow massive illegal immigration, but knowingly turning away people from Cuba that had general claims for political asylum, because they’re being prosecuted in their countries — I think that these are all factors as to why the vote went so red,” the Republican said.
Luna added that many Hispanics, including herself, are raised in the Catholic faith and do not support the abortion extremism of the Left, though Democrats are “pushing massive disinformation” on the issue.
“1,000 percent” the GOP should focus on Hispanic outreach, the congresswoman-elect asserted.
Related: Meet Anna Paulina Luna, The Firebrand Conservative Who Wasn’t ‘Supposed To Win’