Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) continued to be angered over her increasingly poor ratings on Monday, suggesting on Twitter that centrists who do not agree with her are legitimizing bigotry.
A poll released by Gallup on Friday “found that the increase in Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘unfavorable’ rating in recent months has more than doubled her increase in ‘favorable ratings,'” The Daily Wire reported. “Gallup further noted that Ocasio-Cortez’s favorable rating was ‘underwater’ among the majority of groups and was only viewed as favorable among 56% of Democrats.”
A seperate poll released this week found that only 12% of New Yorkers call Ocasio-Cortez a “hero” after she worked to sabotage the Amazon deal — which would have brought tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars worth of economic activity to New York — while “38 percent label her a villain.”
“When ‘centrists’ care more about the GOP base than the Dem base, bigotry gets legitimized,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in response to a tweet on her ratings. “This is *the* playbook. GOP does it w/ virtually every Dem figure who isn’t a white male: otherize, demonize + splinter. It’s vital that we adapt & dismantle this approach, not cow to it.”
“We can’t gloss over it, or quietly consider that the ‘shrewd’ thing to do is nominate someone who won’t be subject to bigoted attacks,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “Morally, we can’t give a pass to this dangerous tactic. But even politically, the Dem base is all the people you demoralize by not standing up.”
“This is different than being moderate on policy,” Ocasio-Cortez added. “I may disagree w/ approach (keeping the ACA as-is w/small tweaks, etc), but at least that’s a policy convo. But to make decisions based on the political efficacy of a bigoted argument gives that bigotry power, & that’s a problem.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s claim that centrists legitimize bigotry when they side with the Republican Party over the Democratic Party is laughable considering the bigotry scandals the Democratic Party has faced this year.
In January, the Republican Party removed Rep. Steve King (R-IA) from his committee assignments following a series of bigoted remarks that he had made.
Democrats, on the other hand, have embraced bigotry as Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has faced no consequences — and remains on the House Foreign Affairs Committee — after she has repeatedly pushed anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and used anti-Semitic tropes.
Virginia Democrat Governor Ralph Northam has faced no consequences after an old photo emerged from his medical school yearbook that showed a person in blackface and another person in a KKK hood — a photo Northam initally admitted to being in and then later denied but admitted he wore blackface on other occasions.
Following Northam’s scandal, Virginia Democrat Attorney General Mark Herring faced no consequences after he admitted to having worn blackface in the past.
Critics slammed Ocasio-Cortez over her comments, noting that she is repeatedly dishonest and that she always casts herself as a victim.
“No—this is *your* playbook,” Allie Beth Stuckey tweeted. “You constantly & falsely claim the only grounds on which anyone in the GOP criticizes you is bigotry. In reality, you ignore their calls for policy convo/debate to avoid proving what we know: you’re not prepared to be publicly challenged on anything.”
“She really likes nailing herself to the cross, doesn’t she?” Derek Hunter tweeted. “You aren’t the victim; you’re the perp.”
“Or the drop in approval numbers is a reflection that 15,000 votes in one district’s primary doesn’t make you, “the boss” of the rest of the country,” Duane Patterson tweeted.
“My goodness, you are a Member of Congress. Please stop wasting so much time trolling people on Twitter,” Brian Riedl tweeted. “This is no better than the GOP lawmakers who seem to see Congress as merely a stepping-stone to a Fox News gig. Put down the phone and focus on legislating & constituents.”