Why AOC's Specious Jan. 6 Claim Is Worse Than Her Usual Exaggerations

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Sometimes it takes a parody to really drive the truth home.

Over the Memorial Day weekend a friend sent a link to this Babylon Bee send-up of AOC for claiming that her experience on January 6 was akin to “war.” As usual, the Bee nails it.

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On Memorial Day, America Honors Fallen Soldier AOC For Her Service On January 6th

U.S.—America was united for a time of mourning and remembrance as they honored the men and women who gave their lives for the cause of freedom. This year’s holiday was especially poignant as citizens remembered fallen soldier Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for her service on January 6th.

“Thank you AOC,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “for dying for the cause of freedom. Today we honor your sacrifice.”

None of this happened, of course, it’s a stinging parody. But give the Democrats time and power and it may. Kamala Harris failed to acknowledge Memorial Day at all in her initial “long weekend” tweet. So did Joe Biden. They’re only the top two Democrats in the country. Neither served in the military, and Biden’s younger son Hunter was booted out for testing positive for cocaine use.

Democrats have made a hero out of George Floyd, who didn’t deserve to die the way he did, but also was a drug addict with a rap sheet longer than your arm. Democrats trash and defund police, who keep order on our streets day after day without incident, though being human, some officers do make mistakes. Given the nature of their jobs, their mistakes are magnified and can have tragic consequences, and Democrats everywhere tend to pounce on them and turn them into claims of systemic ailments.

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Democrats never criticize district attorneys who let dangerous criminals out of jail. When DAs do that, it’s not usually a mistake at all. It’s a choice.

AOC’s claim to have served in something like “war” on January 6 is more than just her usual self-aggrandizing noise. She’s often guilty of that. But this is worse.

It’s a species of stolen valor. Stolen valor is “an individual who – with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit – fraudulently purport to be a recipient of certain military awards, including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and others.” Emphasis added.

On January 6, AOC wasn’t in the Capitol during the riot. She was in another building. But–

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who lied about where she was on January 6 in order to ramp up a story of victimhood, is now arguing being on the U.S. Capitol grounds the day of the riot is equal to “serving in war.”

“Speaking to the weekly public radio show Latino USA on Friday, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said members of Congress effectively ‘served in war’ during the traumatising event that had “deeply affected lawmaking” and impacted the legislative process,” the Independent reports.

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Stolen valor always involves a lie or several, usually claiming medals, but not always. Sometimes it’s a claim of combat service that one did not actually perform, to burnish one’s resume. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, got caught claiming to have served in the Vietnam War years ago, when it turned out he’d served in the reserves during the war, nowhere near Vietnam, and only after obtaining five draft deferments. Democrat voters evidently don’t care; he has been reelected since then.

AOC’s claim is worse than Blumenthal’s. At least he eventually put on the uniform.

AOC never has served in the military at all and never will, she spends most of her time criticizing America at every turn, and was never in jeopardy on January 6 during the riot in which no arms were found, and which took place in a building AOC was not in at the time.

She’s guilty of a type of stolen valor, a species we can call “snowflake valor.” It’s swiping the credit one does not deserve for dangerous wartime service, which is otherwise done in defense of America, but in this case in the name of criticizing and undermining America while nevertheless acknowledging, backhandedly, that wartime service defending America is a thing to be admired.

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Yeah, that’s a twisted sentence. In AOC, we are dealing with a twisted mind.

The tangible benefit AOC sought is an image of facing danger when she didn’t, and putting herself on a direct par with those who do serve in combat, when she has not and never ever will.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a bartender turned congresswoman and social media star, an American rags-to-riches story. A more self-aware, and less self-absorbed, person would realize that and praise the nation that makes it possible.

But no one should waste their time waiting on AOC to do that.

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