While Congress his hard at work trying to handle the coronavirus, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) appears this week as a guest judge on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” — “the judge America needs right now,” the show says in a newly released promo.
Ocasio-Cortez makes her debut on the VH1 show on Friday, in which the men dressed as women will compete in a “Rusical,” a musical number dedicated to Madonna.
In the promo, Ocasio-Cortez does a model-like strut down a runway. After she is dubbed “the judge America needs right now,” the 30-year-old former bartender is seen encouraging a near-tears contestant by saying, “There’s no reason for you to be uncertain.”
When her appearance was first announced in February, AOC said on Twitter, “Join the Ruvolution. I’m Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and I pledge allegiance to the drag.”
🏳️🌈🇺🇸 @AOC joins the Ruvolution! 🇺🇸🏳️🌈#DragRace premieres 2/28 at 8/7c on @VH1! pic.twitter.com/lH8TDTtWSy
— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) February 13, 2020
The show features famed drag queen and host RuPaul searching for “America’s next drag superstar.” AOC has said she is an “avid fan” of the show, adding that appearing on it was her “dream.”
“This was absolutely, 100% a peak experience. I am SO excited for the new season. Thank you @RuPaulsDragRace for having me!” she wrote on Twitter in February.
Ocasio-Cortez is not the first female member of Congress to guest judge with the host, whose full name is RuPaul Charles. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a guest judge in January 2018. The California Democrat said she “had a fabulous time.”
AOC joins a group of celebrities on the show, including former “Saturday Night Live” star Leslie Jones, singer Nicki Minaj, actor Jeff Goldblum, actress Thandie Newton, and TV talk show host Whoopi Goldberg in the series, which debuted Feb. 28.
In a February teaser, RuPaul is featured declaring, “The time has come for America’s first drag queen president,” and guest judges are seen pledging “allegiance to the drag.”
When the news came out that AOC would appear on the show, some criticized her. Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative group Turning Point USA, tweeted: “I wonder why she never claims to be proud to ‘pledge allegiance to the Flag.'”
Stephen Miller, a conservative commentator, said, “Time well spent in Congress.”
The democratic socialist fired back, telling her critics: “They can go back to Party City.”
Her comment is a reference to a previous season of the show, in which Phi Phi O’Hara yelled to a fellow contestant: “At least I am a showgirl, b*tch. Go back to Party City where you belong.”
They can go back to Party City 😉🏳️🌈 https://t.co/SOf33dXmBp
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 13, 2020
In July 2019, Ocasio-Cortez wowwed the crowd at a drag show in New York, where she was invited on stage by a drag queen at the McKittrick Hotel’s weekly drag night.
“You are beautiful! You are accepted!” she shouted to the audience.
“One of the most present and beautiful audiences I’ve experienced to date, they were screaming her initials as she cheered us on front and center all night, even telling us all how much we were loved and welcome and accepted when Joey [A]rias invited her on stage. And I just thought, man, what a reason to actually feel patriotic this weekend,” one fan wrote on Instagram.