Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a self-proclaimed feminist champion, showed her real agenda once again this weekend in an interview with Wyoming Public Radio about fellow Congresswoman Liz Cheney. Rep. Cheney is viewed by many Republicans as a rising star in the GOP; in her short tenure in the lower chamber of Congress, Rep. Cheney has elevated herself into the third spot in GOP House leadership. Amidst the GOP’s struggle to erase the lack of Republican female representation in Congress, Rep. Cheney has been not only a fierce advocate for her constituents, but also a shining example of strong leadership for young Republican women.
In typical AOC fashion, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez used the interview as an opportunity to degrade a GOP woman on the basis of ideology. Despite her alleged commitment to “intersectional feminism,” which is supposed to include all women, AOC is notorious for devaluing women who do not subscribe to her radical, progressive agenda. From the radio interview:
Cheney's loudest critics come from the left, especially from New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the other three freshmen female minorities known as The Squad. Ocasio-Cortez says Cheney - who has repeatedly sparred with members of the Squad - dog whistles to the party's far-right base.
"She certainly doesn't dial back on some of the horrifying rhetoric that targets us in the party, particularly young women of color, particularly immigrants, certainly not part of making the party more welcoming to more Americans," Ocasio-Cortez said.
Ocasio-Cortez says Cheney is merely being paraded about party leaders because they know the GOP has a woman problem.
"I think the party really struggles with women and try trying to kind of elevate a woman I think is an effort in having representation in their leadership, but most of her policy stances are atrocious and pretty horrible for working families and the environment. So what else is new? That doesn't differ too much from the rest of the leadership of the party," Ocasio-Cortez said.
AOC makes it perfectly clear that she believes that Rep. Cheney only holds her seat in the House of Representatives because of her gender, which is not only untrue, but also unproductive for the future of female representation from both parties. Rep. Cheney has broken through labels, and differentiated herself from her own family name, which is a staple in Republican politics. She has absolutely earned her spot in GOP leadership, and is a strong face for Republicans. She is held in such a high regard by others in GOP leadership because of her intelligence and staunch commitment to conservative values, and to insinuate otherwise is grossly sexist.
Degrading rhetoric from a radical ideologue like AOC, who refuses to ever compromise with or acknowledge the other side of the political aisle, is far from surprising. What AOC does not realize, or perhaps does not care about, is that demeaning another woman purely on the basis of ideological disagreement actually reverses progress made with respect to female representation. Differences in policy preferences between lawmakers are expected, and healthy for civil discourse, but claiming another congresswoman "dog whistles," is low and uncalled for, even for AOC.
