Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) stepped onstage last night at the Democratic National Convention during prime time, demonstrating how far the waif from the Bronx has come in four years.
During her first term in Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi almost came to blows with AOC when the upstart, self-proclaimed "democratic socialist" criticized her leadership. Pelosi smacked her down hard, after which AOC was only slightly more compliant.
AOC fancies herself as some kind of revolutionary. She's actually pretty tame compared to other New York congressmen over the years. Rep. Charles Rangel was a race baiter. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell was a firebrand given to long speechifying that was both entertaining and terrifying.
AOC is neither. She screeches a lot and uses all the socialist buzzwords, but if she weren't a congresswoman, she'd be ignored. You can probably hear someone like her declaim about capitalism and greedy businessmen at any bar in New York City.
Oh, wait.
Ocasio-Cortez does not have a firm grasp of economic theory or politics in America, for that matter. She has a stick-figure understanding of issues, and that was on display last night at the DNC.
“We know Trump would sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing palms of his Wall Street friends,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And I, for one, am tired of hearing about how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot than the woman who fights every single day to lift working people out from under the boots of greed trampling on our way of life.”
“The truth is, Don, you cannot love this country if you only fight for the wealthy and big business.”
Trump was a property developer in New York City before he was president. You can't be a successful property developer in New York without being on fairly good terms with the construction trades. Was he a pro-union developer? Few are. But "union-buster" is a gross exaggeration.
"Only fight" for the wealthy? More gross, inaccurate exaggerations. One of these days, AOC is going to wake up and the rich will have fled the country for someplace where they don't lie about them. What will she do then?
Some X posters accused her of adopting a Southern accent as she shouted to the crowd.
Where did @AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez get the new accent during her screamfest? #Democrats scream speeches because they're not saying anything important so they don't want you to understand. Occasional Cortex is no different. Remember when she cost her district all those jobs? https://t.co/RyXSHkoFzB
— Kira (@KiraWal13810301) August 20, 2024
AOC speech was cringe. The fake accent was way too much for me. Back snapped. I called it. DNC is cringe as all get out. pic.twitter.com/dbVorXVlnu
— LCTRfan (@LCTRfan) August 20, 2024
It's not the first time the Bronx native has been accused of using a fake Southern drawl.
In one 2019 speech, Ocasio-Cortez was accused of speaking with a Southern accent while in front of a majority-black audience at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network convention.
She fired back at the time, raging: “Folks talking about my voice can step right off.”
“Any kid who grew up in a distinct linguistic culture & had to learn to navigate class enviros at school/work knows what’s up,” she tweeted. “My Spanish is the same way.”
Why don't we believe her?
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