Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Most controversial statements
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been known for her strong opinions. Here’s a look back at a few of her most controversial statements.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., isn’t having any of President Trump’s concurrence.
After the president cheekily tweeted over the weekend that he agrees with her assessment there’s a “very real risk” he will win re-election in 2020 – and suggested that’s why Democrats use the “impeach card” – the progressive firebrand cited their mutual New York connection in hitting back.
“Mr. President, you’re from Queens. You may fool the rest of the country, but I’ll call your bluff any day of the week. Opening an impeachment inquiry is exactly what we must do when the President obstructs justice, advises witnesses to ignore legal subpoenas, & more. Bye,” she tweeted, capping it off with a hand-waving emoji.
In her first Sunday morning show appearance since she took office in January, Ocasio-Cortez had told ABC News' Jon Karl on "This Week": "I think that we have a very real risk of losing the presidency to Donald Trump if we do not have a presidential candidate that is fighting for true transformational change in the lives of working people in the United States."
She went on to make the case for a progressive 2020 presidential nominee, suggesting anything short of that runs the risk of Democrats losing to Trump.
The president then quoted the congresswoman in a tweet Sunday night, adding: "I agree, and that is the only reason they play the impeach card, which cannot be legally used!" He did not elaborate.
In her earlier interview, Ocasio-Cortez called an impeachment investigation a "constitutional responsibility." That prompted Karl to press Ocasio-Cortez on reports that progressive Democrats are frustrated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has resisted calls for impeachment proceedings.
"I think it's quite real," Ocasio-Cortez said. "I believe that there is a very real animus and desire to make sure that we are -- that -- that we are holding this president to account."
A growing progressive anger also has targeted former Vice President Joe Biden, who said earlier this month he could “no longer support" the Hyde Amendment, which he had backed for decades. Biden said the law makes a woman's right to an abortion "dependent on someone's ZIP code.”
The Hyde Amendment prevents the government from providing abortion funding except in cases of rape, incest, or when the health of the mother is at stake.
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But, on the Hyde Amendment, Ocasio-Cortez has been more forceful.
"It’s not the 70s anymore," Ocasio-Cortez said in an email to backers on Saturday, building support for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment. "This is 2019, and none of our leaders should be willing to stand by a policy that disproportionately harms low-income Americans and people of color just to suit the interests of anti-choice zealots. That ends now.”