In a calculated political stunt meant to seek attention more than achieve results, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez led a group of freshman Democrats in an effort to track down Mitch McConnell and deliver a letter demanding he call a vote that would end the government shutdown.
As with many other Ocasio-Cortez-led moments, it became an unintentionally hilarious farce.
The socialist darling of the Democrat Party was joined by Reps. Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Lauren Underwood (D-IL), and Katie Hill (D-CA).
“At this point, the only thing left is for us to make noise and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Hill explained to reporters enamored by the stunt.
Noise quickly morphed into laughter, as the group struggled to find McConnell’s office, accidentally ran into a March For Life gathering, had to have the Republican Senate Majority Leader’s office make copies of the letter because they forgot to, eventually realized they went to the wrong office, and hosted an impromptu press conference to save face.
The Struggle Is Real
Who knew delivering a letter could be so difficult?
The letter, signed by over 30 House freshmen, called for McConnell to “reopen the government” and bring a House bill to fund federal agencies “to a vote.”
Trials and tribulations ensued.
After being turned away from McConnell’s office for the second day running, House Dem freshmen now trying to find him on the Senate floor or Senate R cloakroom
— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) January 16, 2019
The House D freshmen are evidently now leaving a note on McConnell’s desk in the chamber
— Erica Werner (@ericawerner) January 16, 2019
A follow-up tweet noted that the group stumbled upon a gathering in support of the March For Life.
“Sen Ernst, Fischer and others were doing a colloquy in support of March for Life as the House Dem freshmen tried to leave note for McConnell in chamber,” Werner wrote.
She added that Ernst provided a bit of snark in response to the run-in.
“We hope they enjoyed our message of life,” Ernst said.
More Failures
In trying to then deliver a copy of the letter to McConnell’s office, the freshman Democrats ran into yet another problem – they forgot to actually make copies.
“They didn’t make a copy of their letter so we’re making a copy for them,” a member of McConnell’s staff told The Hill.
The office you’re trying to embarrass had to lend a hand on the stunt. Brilliant!
Confusion reigned, as the group wasn’t even certain they were in the correct office.
probably in his leadership office, not his personal office… https://t.co/zqSlAEMgOn
— j-dub (@hutchwright) January 16, 2019
The group was told by staffers that they wouldn’t find McConnell where they were heading but decided to go anyway.
The Post reported, “The new members were told after their first Capitol office visit that McConnell wouldn’t be on the Senate floor or in his second office but went there anyway.”
With all of these struggles, perhaps sending the letter via email would be a better idea next time around.