29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman elected to Congress, and will represent New York's 14th district. During the primaries, the charismatic progressive defeated the incumbent Democrat in a shocking upset victory. She is of Puerto Rican descent, born to a working-class family in the Bronx and identifies as a proud democratic socialist. And yes, she terrifies Republicans more than The Haunting Of Hill House. (She supports tuition-free college and universal health care?! Ahhhhhhhh!)
There are fair criticisms to make about the Congresswoman-elect's ideas, but some conservatives are trying a different tactic: claiming she doesn't look poor enough. Ocasio-Cortez connected to voters through stories about her real struggle to make ends meet - such as tweeting photos of her worn-out shoes and discussing her past as a bartender and waitress. After getting elected, she had to move to Washington D.C., where rent is extremely expensive, and her salary doesn't kick in for three months. "I’ve really been just kind of squirreling away and then hoping that gets me to January,” she told the New York Times.
Ocasio-Cortez's tweet reveals how the electoral system seems to be rigged against working-class and middle-class Americans. However, some conservatives aren't buying it. On Fox News, some personalities expressed amusement about her financial struggles, and falsely claimed she owned pricey outfits that were worth a month's rent in D.C. (Ha ha! Look at that person who isn't obscenely rich! What a loser!)
Eddie Scarry, a conservative journalist for The Washington Examiner, shared a super creepy shot of Ocasio-Cortez walking down the hallway, and speculated on her outfit. "Hill staffer sent me this pic of Ocasio-Cortez they took just now," he wrote. "I'll tell you something: that jacket and coat don't look like a girl who struggles." (Also notice he called her a "girl." Think he calls male members of Congress boys?)
The tweet sparked outrage, as many people found the comment 'sexist.' Seriously, why are right-wing TV personalities mocking Ocasio-Cortez for candidly sharing her financial troubles? Isn't picking yourself up from your bootstraps, and going from nothing to something, like, their whole philosophy? Why spread false statements about her fancy apparel? How many times have they uploaded creepy photos of Congress-men and speculated on the fanciness of their clothing? Anyway, Twitter users responded by savagely mocking Scarry's comment, and the results are hilarious.
Even The Onion got in on it!
After the responses went viral, Scarry deleted his tweet, and tried to say he wasn't making a dumb sexist comment. He claimed just trying to praise Ocasio-Cortez, for looking so well-put-together and "ELEGANT, even!" (Uh-huh, sure.) Fortunately, someone screenshotted his original tweet for posterity.
Meanwhile, Ocasio-Cortez took it all in stride. She tweeted, "The reason journos from @FoxNews to @dcexaminer can’t help but obsess about my clothes, rent, or mischaracterize respectful convos as “fights” is bc as I’ve said, women like me aren’t supposed to run for office - or win. & that’s exactly why the BX and Queens sent me here."
In another tweet, she explained that there's no way to win with right-wing trolls: "If I walked into Congress wearing a sack, they would laugh & take a picture of my backside. If I walk in with my best sale-rack clothes, they laugh & take a picture of my backside. Dark hates light - that’s why you tune it out."
It doesn't seem like a very smart political strategy to mock people in the the 99% for financial struggles, but hey, good luck, conservative pundits.
