Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared to dismiss Meghan McCain’s concerns of violent, sexist attacks from so-called “Bernie Bros,” blaming “internet culture.”
The freshman congresswoman joined ABC’s “The View” for most of Wednesday’s show to discuss her support for independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
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McCain brought the topic to the table, saying that she had personally been the recipient of attacks that she found to be both misogynistic and violent. (RELATED: Meghan McCain Unloads On Joy Behar For Attacking Trump While Giving Bloomberg A Pass)
“The one thing that connects women on the left and women on the right, at least a lot of guest co-hosts, guests that come on, is the abuse that we have all been subjected to by the Bernie bros,” McCain began. “It is by far the most violent, most misogynistic, the most sexist, the most harmful. My mother has cried over doctored photos that the Bernie Bros have sent.”
McCain went on to say that, as far as she was concerned, Sanders had not done enough to distance himself from the attacks made in his name, saying only that he had dismissed them by saying that they did not represent him.
“It’s disgusting and vitriolic,” McCain continued. “You’re an extremely powerful woman. How do you feel that he’s attached to this deeply misogynistic and I would go so far as to say violent sector of people?”
“I think internet culture can often be very toxic,” Ocasio-Cortez replied. “Whether we are cognizant of it or not, it nearly always concentrates on women, people of color, and we experience the brunt of it. I think that to a certain extent we have to always reject hate, reject vitriol, and denounce that kind of behavior.”
Ocasio-Cortez went on to argue that anonymous Twitter handles were difficult to track, but McCain asked again, “Do you think he’s done enough to try and stop it?”
“I think he works very hard,” Ocasio-Cortez said, soon turning the conversation to note that she had also been the recipient of attacks from other sources. “I.C.E. And CBP officers targeted me when I went to visit the border. They photoshopped — people who are supposed to be protecting immigrants and children are photoshopped —”
“He’s got to do more,” Whoopi Goldberg concluded. “He’s got to stand up and say it every day if he needs to, stop this, we’re not accepting it. It’s not good for us.”