From campaign finance woes to complaints about other Democrats, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can’t seem to avoid controversy.
The latest issue swirling about the freshman New York congresswoman includes racism and hypocrisy. Ocasio-Cortez has already been called out by black pastors for co-opting the Civil Rights movement for her own purposes, now she has been accused of “open and obvious racism” on social media.
Last Thursday, Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan accused another congressman, Mark Meadows of North Carolina, of racism. This accusation came after Meadows issued an invitation to a Department of Housing and Urban Development official, Lynne Patton, to speak before a House Oversight Committee. Tlaib claimed that Patton was invited to downplay racist accusations against the Trump Administration.
“Just because someone has a person of color, a black person, working for them does not mean they aren’t racist and..the fact someone would actually use a prop, a black woman in this chamber, in this committee is alone racist in itself,” Tlaib said.
Ocasio-Cortez jumped in immediately, tweeting: “Total bravery from @RashidaTlaib as she reminds the nation that tokenism *is* racism.”
AOC’s comments did not go un-noticed. Fox News host Charles Payne, who is black, asked Ocasio-Cortez if she has people of color working in her own office. This question triggered more racist comments from Ocasio-Cortez.
“We have Black staff,” AOC fired back. “We don’t parade them around to show the world how diverse our staff is, and use that as some sign of evidence of the absence of racism. That’s what tokenism is.”
Payne responded in a tweet, highlighting the racism behind Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks.
“Thanks for getting back. It’s disappointing rhetoric to suggest people are paraded and belittle hiring of Black people as tokenism. Moreover, questioning their accomplishments is even more problematic. You get that,” Payne retorted. “BTW some of the Black folks on your staff may want to be visible.
Other high-profile accounts were quick to chime in, including conservative Dan Bogino, who called her comments obvious racism, tweeting:
“Why is the media refusing to call out Rep. Ocasio-Cortez for her open and obvious racism?”
Blaze TV personality Allie Beth Stuckey tweeted about the hypocrisy of AOC’s stance on racism, and pointed out that her rules for what is and what is not racism are not very clear.
“So if someone doesn’t have any/enough Black people on their staff, that’s racist,” she said. “But if someone does have Black people on their staff, that’s also racist. Thank you for making this perfectly clear. ”
Others continued to chime in throughout the day to point out the problems with Ocasio-Cortez’s statements; the congresswoman had no further comment.
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