New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was taken to task by The New York Daily News on Sunday for voting against the latest coronavirus relief package.
Acknowledging that the progressive lawmaker represents the hardest-hit district in the U.S., the editorial board said her opposition to the $484 billion relief bill is “not the kind of distinction a rising star legislator should be proud of.”
AOC was one of only five lawmakers to oppose the bill, but was the only Democrat to do so.
The New York lawmaker claimed her vote was because the legislation didn’t go far enough.
"My concern is that we are giving away the farm," Ocasio-Cortez told reporters after the vote. "I cannot go back to my communities and tell them to just wait for CARES four because we have now passed three, four pieces of legislation that's related to coronavirus. And every time it's the next one, the next one, the next one, and my constituents are dying."
Progressive groups praised the lawmaker for her vote.
"We are so grateful for the unapologetic moral clarity and political courage of @AOC in this moment," the Sunrise Movement said on Twitter, adding, "When will @HouseDemocrats use their leverage to fight for us?"
The left-leaning Daily News wasn't buying her argument, however.
“Yeah: The first aid bill didn’t go far enough. Nor did the second. Nor did the third. The fourth didn’t get there either, but the response to crises happen in steps,” the board wrote. “If everyone said no to each massive package because it didn’t go all the way, we’d all be even deader in the water.”
EDITORIAL: AOC claims it’s because the latest relief bill didn’t go far enough.
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) April 26, 2020
If everyone said no to each massive package because it didn’t go all the way, we’d all be even deader in the water.https://t.co/SvFBPLZDtj