Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) said he's happy to debate his new colleague Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) anytime, but just not anywhere. For instance, he specified on Saturday that one platform he'd rather not spar with her on anymore, is Twitter.
The two were at odds over taxes. Ocasio-Cortez gave an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper last week in which she offered a few um, unique, solutions to the country's economic gaps and supposed climate crisis. One of her more farfetched plans was to tax the wealthy by 70 percent to fund her "Green New Deal."
“There’s an element where yeah, people are going to have to start paying their fair share in taxes,” she explained.
Scalise, like many conservatives, clapped back at the controversial request.
Republicans: Let Americans keep more of their own hard-earned money
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 5, 2019
Democrats: Take away 70% of your income and give it to leftist fantasy programs https://t.co/NxJPSCqvrt
Ocasio-Cortez dismissed Scalise's critique because, as she noted, he's a member of the party that bends over backwards for powerful corporations.
You’re the GOP Minority Whip. How do you not know how marginal tax rates work?
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 6, 2019
Oh that’s right, almost forgot: GOP works for the corporate CEOs showering themselves in multi-million??bonuses; not the actual working people whose wages + healthcare they’re ripping off for profit. https://t.co/R1YIng2Ok1
That was all fine and good. Normal banter. But, when her followers started chiming in, things got nasty. Some of her more radical fans even mocked Scalise for the injuries he sustained after being shot at a congressional baseball practice in June 2017. Scalise's injuries required multiple surgeries and kept him out of Capitol Hill for months. When he finally returned, he walked into Congress with a cane. Still, as you can see, some critics thought it was good fodder for a few jokes.
Hi @AOC. Happy to continue this debate on the Floor of the People’s House, but it’s clearly not productive to engage here with some of your radical followers. #StayClassy pic.twitter.com/lZCO3oiLUZ
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) January 6, 2019
Of course, Ocasio-Cortez can't be blamed for the awful language of people posting on her Twitter page. But, as Scalise noted on Fox News Monday, he'd like to see her "stand up" to it.
“I'd like to see her stand up to this," Scalise said. "Everybody ought to stand up to this kind of discussion. If somebody wants to have a debate about policy, that's what we're all about. That's what the first amendment is all about. But you shouldn't threaten people. If you’ve got to threaten people to make your point, you've already lost."
Hopefully Ocasio-Cortez will also agree with Scalise that their debates will be best served on Capitol Hill.