Considering how often some interests on the right tear into Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), you’d think they were fans. This week, she tore right back into them after Fox News host Laura Ingraham and her guest Joe diGenova mocked her for her pronunciation of her own name, quipping that she does “the Latina thing” — whatever that’s supposed to entail. In response, Ocasio-Cortez explored just how afraid they seem of people who dare not be a member of the majority community.
As she began:
‘If by ‘the Latina thing,’ she means I actually do the work instead of just talk about it, then yeah, I’m doing ‘the Latina thing.’ Unless of course she‘s talking about being multilingual, which we know isn’t a ‘Latina thing.’ It’s a ‘21st century’ thing.’
If by ‘the Latina thing,’ she means I actually do the work instead of just talk about it, then yeah, I’m doing ‘the Latina thing.’
Unless of course she‘s talking about being multilingual, which we know isn’t a ‘Latina thing.’
It’s a ‘21st century’ thing.https://t.co/v41dAyjshP
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 21, 2019
She added a mocking approximation of their stance:
‘“How dare they refuse to say their name in a wrong accent & not mangle their own family name so that I can feel more comfortable instead of look inside myself & examine why something as small as *a person’s name* makes me uncomfortable in the first place?? This is an outrage!”’
“How dare they refuse to say their name in a wrong accent & not mangle their own family name so that I can feel more comfortable instead of look inside myself & examine why something as small as *a person’s name* makes me uncomfortable in the first place?? This is an outrage!” https://t.co/ArYd28WVcv
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 21, 2019
It’s true — it’s remarkable for Ocasio-Cortez’s pronunciation of her own name to have ever become a topic of discussion on Fox News in the first place. Ocasio-Cortez noted that they often get her name wrong, too, sticking to calling her “Cortez,” which is a glaringly Spanish — and in Trump and Republicans’ world, probably more suspicious name. Do they not have actual tangible issues to cover? Do they need a refresher on what’s really going on out there?
Maybe. What’s sure is that Tuesday night on her show, after rambling without any apparent data to back her up about how the media had supposedly dumped the Trump team collusion with Russia story because there’s nothing there, Ingraham asked diGenova if he’d noticed if when she introduces herself, Ocasio-Cortez “puts on accents” like Obama did.
He replied:
‘She does the Latina thing where she does her — “Anastasio Ocasio-Cortez.”‘
Her name is not Anastasio, and she doesn’t claim to be named that, even if it “sounds nice,” as Ingraham put it.
In high-profile instances, those on the right have run into this kind of issue before. During the lead-up to the midterm elections, now-Democratic Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger ended her closing statement at a debate with an emphatic declaration of her name because during the aforementioned hour and a half, her then-opponent Republican Dave Brat had mentioned now-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a full 21 times.
That backdoor dehumanization tactic didn’t get Brat very far.
At present, the right has good reason to be intimidated by Ocasio-Cortez. She has repeatedly leveraged her new position for the good of those seeking to shine a light on the inner workings of Washington through means ranging from getting former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to explicitly and publicly accuse the president of fraud to the introduction of a “Green New Deal,” continuing to push the Democratic Party and U.S. at large towards addressing the threat of climate change.
Talking about Ocasio-Cortez’s pronunciation of her own name isn’t going to erase any of that, although she’s certainly going to face future attacks along these lines, considering precedent. Even Donald Trump Jr. has joined in, mockingly saying that her policy proposals would culminate in Americans having to eat their dogs.
Check out Twitter’s response to Ocasio-Cortez…
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
