As President Donald Trump and the Republicans continue to seek to demolish pillars of American civil society like the Affordable Care Act, figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) continue to work relentlessly to safeguard the vulnerable from threats like climate change. This week during a televised discussion on MSNBC about the issue, she briskly shut down a heckler who went after her fellow panelist, former Republican Congressman Bob Inglis, shouting an accusation that he was a “moron” because he pointed out possible lengthy committee review processes for the so-called “Green New Deal.”
Before the discussion could continue after the heckler, the popular progressive Congresswoman interjected:
‘Hey, hey, hey — that’s unacceptable, and that’s the difference between me and Trump.’
It’s true — repeatedly, President Donald Trump and his closest allies have encouraged angry ranting as manifested through means like the infamous “Lock Her Up!” chants at Trump rallies. This past week, rally goers at a Trump event in Michigan turned their attention to Ocasio-Cortez herself, chanting “AOC Sucks!” after Donald Trump Jr. mocked her over the Green New Deal. It’s not as though Trump Jr. tried to shut it down. That’s just par for the course for the Trump team.
She’s faced heckling targeting her in person, including at a recent education town hall she participated in where a man shouted down her efforts to explain why she believes more schools of higher education should be held to a more strenuous standards.
She commented at the time:
‘My concern is that this right here, where we’re fighting each other, is exactly what happens under a scarcity mindset, because this should not be the fight.
Figures like Trump Jr. and a whole host of Republicans have gone after her in the past, although President Donald Trump has mostly skipped around directly targeting her — perhaps conscious of how outmatched he is. Earlier this year, asked for his response to Ocasio-Cortez calling him a racist, he offered simply:
‘Who cares?’
Through it all, the Congresswoman has maintained her push for progressive policy like the Green New Deal, which would see the United States hit net-zero carbon emissions within a decade — and which Trump has explicitly singled out for mockery. The proposal has attracted the support of key left-wing figures including a number of Senators who could be the next president, from Vermont’s Bernie Sanders to California’s Kamala Harris. The right has by and large stood against the proposal, arguing that it would endanger fundamental aspects of American life.
Still, during her discussion about the issue this week on MSNBC, Ocasio-Cortez asserted of her position:
‘This is not a Tea Party of the left — this is a return to American representative democracy.’
NBC News’ own Heather McGhee added of the concepts:
‘In terms of the American people, they’re the centrist ideas because they’re about taking back our democracy and our economy.’
This past week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rushed the Green New Deal to a floor vote in an effort to put Democrats on the spot, and they responded by mostly voting “present” in protest of the absence of time for further negotiation.
Featured Image via screenshot
