The White House fired back at Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after the New York Democrat claimed that press secretary Kayleigh McEnany disrespected her title and implied it was because she was a “woman of color.”
Tricky AOC Spouts Off Without Giving the Full Picture
Ocasio-Cortez quoted a tweet in McEnany referred to her at a briefing as “Biden adviser Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.”
But AOC failed to include context.
“Wouldn’t be the first person to mistake a women of color for having a lower position or title than she does, but Kayleigh – in case you haven’t picked up a newspaper in two years, I’m a Congresswoman,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
.@PressSec wouldn’t be the first person to mistake a women of color for having a lower position or title than she does, but Kayleigh – in case you haven’t picked up a newspaper in two years, I’m a Congresswoman. https://t.co/3FRHo7dpTL
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 8, 2020
Now here’s the full quote.
“The president is appalled by the ‘defund the police’ movement,” McEnany said. “The fact that you have sitting congresswomen wanting to defund the police– notably Rashida Tlaib, notably Biden adviser Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former Clinton and Eric Holder spokesperson Brian Fallon wanting to defund our police across this country, it is extraordinary.”
“She literally called you Congresswoman, @AOC,” White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah tweeted in response.
she literally called you Congresswoman, @AOC.
— Alyssa Farah (@Alyssafarah) June 8, 2020
“Read the transcript, Congresswoman @AOC” McEnany shot back.
Read the transcript, Congresswoman @AOC ⬇️ https://t.co/knvCMmVjWh pic.twitter.com/q6uRWROYNA
— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) June 8, 2020
Ocasio-Cortez Fully Behind ‘Defund the Police’
Ocasio-Cortez supports the movement to defund police departments that has become a rallying cry for many protesting George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Ocasio-Cortez told NY1 that she’s “actively engaged in advocacy” for a “reduction of our NYPD budget and defunding a $6 billion NYPD budget that costs us books in the hands of our children and costs us very badly needed investment in NYCHA [New York City Housing Authority] and public housing.”
Supporters of defunding the police told Fox News, “We recognize that we don’t have all the answers about what a police-free future looks like, but our community does. We’re committing to engaging with every willing community member in the city of Minneapolis over the next year to identify what safety looks like for you.”