Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blamed Republicans for criticism she received over being formally sworn-in Friday during a Congressional hearing on immigration.
The unusual request by the freshman congresswoman drew a puzzled reaction from Democratic House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Visits Border Facility, Claims Migrant Women Were Forced To Drink Toilet Water)
“I would like to be sworn in,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“Oh, alright. We usually don’t require a swearing in, uh, but you want to be sworn in?” Cummings replied.
The decision raised eyebrows across the political spectrum, but Ocasio-Cortez aimed her ire at Republicans in response to criticism from liberal MSNBC commentator Mika Brzezinski.(RELATED: Bipartisan Duo Files Lawsuit Against Ocasio-Cortez For Blocking Twitter Followers)
Hey Mika – GOP has alleged that I am lying about the accounts of migrant women at the border, particularly about the fact that they were were told to drink out of a toilet bowl.
Committee staff conferred with me ahead of time about formally requesting to be sworn in. https://t.co/AppdBZJ4z6
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 12, 2019
“Hey Mika – GOP has alleged that I am lying about the accounts of migrant women at the border, particularly about the fact that they were were told to drink out of a toilet bowl,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
Ocasio-Cortez has been a harsh critic of immigration enforcement, and has compared detention camps at the southern border to concentration camps in Nazi Germany. At the hearing, Ocasio-Cortez continued to attack the Trump administration’s border policy, and called the crisis at the border “manufactured.”
“This is a manufactured crisis, because the cruelty is manufactured,” she said. This is a manufactured crisis because there’s no need for us to do this.”