New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ripped fellow Democrats for condemning comments made by Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar that were perceived by many to be anti-Semitic. She also accused moderates in her party of engaging in racist tropes by voting for an amendment to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Ocasio-Cortez reinvigorated an inter-party squabble over support for the agency, while defending her friend and fellow freshman congresswoman during an early morning tweet storm Wednesday. (RELATED: CNN, MSNBC Ignore Ocasio-Cortez’s Alleged FEC Violation)
If we’re so concerned about implied tropes, why aren’t we concerned about this one?
Where was the concern last week when 26 Dems voted for a GOP amendment to expand ICE powers rooted in the racist + false trope that Latino immigrants are more dangerous than US born citizens? https://t.co/KNzRDWJH4z
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 6, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez was targeting the 26 House Democrats who voted for a Republican amendment to a gun control bill that would alert ICE when an illegal immigrant attempts to purchase a firearm. Ocasio-Cortez, who favors abolishing ICE, also said that the premise of a proposed wall at the southern border is based in racism.
“The entire PREMISE of a wall is not based in fact. It’s based in a racist + non-evidence based trope that immigrants are dangerous,” she said. “Yet some Dems are willing to ‘compromise’ & spend BILLIONS on a trope because we’ve accepted some kinds of racism as realpolitik in America.”
Ocasio-Cortez and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly lashed out at moderate Democrats during a closed door meeting last week, and encouraged Democrats in Congress to stick together on key pieces of legislation.
In the meeting, Ocasio-Cortez reportedly threatened to “alert progressive activists when Democrats are voting with the GOP on these motions.”
