At this point, tensions between President Donald Trump and Democrats have reached an all-time high. As Trump continues to fight for his border wall, certain Democrats haven't been shy about airing their frustration with the president, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's quotes about Donald Trump prove that. Watch out President Trump, because this congresswoman will not be silenced.
During the 2018 November midterm elections, 29-year old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez won her bid for New York's 14th district, making her the youngest woman to ever serve in Congress. During the election, she beat out Democratic opponent Rep. Joe Crowley, who held the seat for decades. While fellow politicians might have underestimated Ocasio-Cortez initially for her age, she's proven to be a valiant force in politics, and has given us an inside look into the goings-on at Capitol Hill. Since her swearing-in on Jan. 3, Ocasio-Cortez has worked with Congress to address changes that need to be made within the United States, and a lot of it has to do with a certain world leader. Of course, she's one of a few Democrats who has openly criticized Trump's politics, but leave it to a millennial to throw shade in a subtle, yet brilliant way.
What does AOC have to say about Trump, you may ask? Well, she's certainly not beating around the bush.
On Sunday, Jan. 6, Ocasio-Cortez appeared on 60 Minutes to discuss the tense political climate within the United States. Obviously, the subject of Trump came up, and Ocasio-Cortez wasn't shy about sharing her feelings about Trump's political rhetoric. While she acknowledged that Trump didn't "invent racism," she told host Anderson Cooper that he's "given a voice to it" and has "created a platform" to expand racism. Believe it or not, that wasn't the most shocking segment of the interview. Following Ocasio-Cortez's statements, Cooper asked the congresswoman whether she believed Trump was a racist, to which she had a prompt and immediate response.
"Yeah, yeah, no question," Ocasio-Cortez responded to Cooper's question.
Elite Daily reached out to the White House and Ocasio-Cortez's team for comment on her remark, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Being openly called a racist on television would probably bother most people, but clearly Trump is one of a kind. Following Ocasio-Cortez's appearance on 60 Minutes, Trump spoke to reporters outside the White House on Jan. 14, who asked him what he thought of Ocasio-Cortez's remarks.
"Who cares?" Trump said to reporters.
Hm, maybe you should, Mr. President.
If there's one thing everyone should know, it's that no one messes with New Yorkers. Ocasio-Cortez is a Bronx, New York, native, and now that she's representing her district, she's making sure everyone knows it. In June 2018, before she was elected to Congress, Ocasio- Cortez appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to talk about her political journey. Near the end of the interview, Colbert brought up Trump's tweet about Rep. Crowley losing the primaries, and claimed he might have been re-elected if he "nicer" to the president. This prompted Colbert to ask Ocasio-Cortez if she planned to be "nicer" to Trump if she won her congressional race, to which she had an A+ response.
"Well, you know the president is from Queens, and with all due respect, half of my district is from Queens. I don't think he knows how to deal with a girl from the Bronx," Ocasio-Cortez told Colbert, to loud applause.
Elite Daily reached out to the White House and Ocasio-Cortez's team for comment on her remark, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Judging from her and Trump's tension recently, it looks like she might have been right.
The 2019 State of the Union started off rocky to say the least. Initially, the nationwide address was scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 29, but was delayed due to the month-long government shutdown. Finally, on Tuesday, Feb. 5, Trump took center stage to address his administration's achievements in 2018 and what he had planned for the new year. However, Trump's thunder was slightly overshadowed by women in Congress donning white in honor of the women's suffrage movement and as an act of solidarity.
During his address, Trump acknowledged that the highest number of women in U.S. history were elected to Congress in the November 2018 midterms. Even though congresswomen in the stands stood up and cheered, Ocasio-Cortez later told TMZ on Feb. 5 that his comment was completely ironic. She said,
And when he had that moment I think all of us couldn't help but laugh. We had to just laugh, because you looked around and first of all, all the women, almost all of the women, are on the Democratic side ... I don't think he realized the irony of what he was saying when he said it ... I think he trolled himself.
Elite Daily reached out to the White House and Ocasio-Cortez's team for comment on her remark, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Troll or not, it's clear that some serious changes are coming to Capitol Hill in 2019.
Since her swearing-in, Ocasio-Cortez has made it a point to combat the serious problem of climate change. In November 2018, Ocasio-Cortez was one of the leaders openly taking this matter to Congress, and thus the Green New Deal was created. The proposal was created by activist group the Sunrise Movement, and it's a policy proposal that would plan to eliminate all U.S. carbon emissions and start focusing solely on renewable energy. In addition, the package would plan for climate-related natural disasters in order to prepare communities for impact beforehand. The ambitious proposal, however, has faced criticism, with some claiming it's unrealistic or too expensive.
Among its critics is Trump, who not only expressed his disapproval of the proposal, but took it a step further by stating it "sounds like a high school term paper that got a low mark" while speaking to a crowd in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 11.
Well, Ocasio-Cortez wasn't going to let Trump throw shade at her proposal without a fight. So, on Feb. 11, Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to clap back at Trump's comment about the Green New Deal, and it was pretty... ruthless. She wrote,
Ah yes, a man who can’t even read briefings written in full sentences is providing literary criticism of a House Resolution. (“Reading the intelligence book is not Trump’s preferred ‘style of learning,’ according to a person with knowledge of the situation.” - @washingtonpost)
Elite Daily reached out to the White House and Ocasio-Cortez's team for comment on her remark, but did not hear back in time for publication.
The fate of the Green New Deal is still unknown, but climate change is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed. So, let's hope these two can put their differences aside and work together to deal with it.
The topic of Trump's tax returns has been a special interest among Congress for months. On Feb. 27, Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen appeared in front of the House Oversight Committee to discuss his experience working for Trump. While Republicans continuously attempted to discredit Cohen by discussing his former lies to Congress in regards to Trump's financial matters, Ocasio-Cortez had other interests in mind.
On Monday, Feb. 4, Ocasio-Cortez spoke to reporters about Cohen's testimony, in which she explained the House Oversight Committee should be focusing on Trump's taxes, bank accounts, and financial statements. Well, in addition to her remarks, the congresswoman also decided to have a little fun while delivering her speech. She said,
You hear the president say 'no collusion, no collusion, no collusion' right? He's always talking about the focus on the relationship between his campaign and Russia, which the scope of that investigation is under the House Intelligence Committee as well as several other investigatory bodies. So while he's talking 'collusion, collusion, collusion,' I think in Oversight we should be talking about 'taxes, taxes, taxes' and his 'bank account, his bank account, his bank account,' his 'financial statements, statements, statements.'
Elite Daily reached out to the White House and Ocasio-Cortez's team for comment on her remark, but did not hear back in time for publication.
Who says throwing shade can't also be a little bit humorous? Trump might have had a lot on his plate from the beginning, but it looks like he'll have even more to deal with now that Ocasio-Cortez is in office. Best of luck, you two.
