AOC Picks Twitter Fight with Marco Rubio, So He Ends It with 1 Word
In December of 2020, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a bit of a dust-up with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin.
Manchin, not illogically, had pointed out that “defund the police” wasn’t exactly a slogan that was going to carry the party to victory. In response, AOC tweeted a pic of her giving dagger eyes to Manchin during President Donald Trump’s second State of the Union address.
Manchin was unmoved. “I don’t know the young lady — I really don’t. I never met her. I’m understanding she’s not that active with her bills or in committee,” he said. “She’s more active on Twitter than anything else.”
He’s not wrong, but seeing how she fares in Twitter fights, maybe it’s a good thing she stays away from legislation.
For those of you unawares, Ocasio-Cortez had been sniping back and forth with Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio on Twitter toward the end of 2020. It’s an exchange which, thus far, has left her winless.
Darned if she doesn’t dust herself back off and try, though. You have to give her credit for that. Learning from the experience, not so much.
So a bit of background to the December 2020 dust-up: In a blow to whatever “unity” narrative Joe Biden was trying to weave, his pick for deputy chief of staff, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said she was willing to work with Republicans in an interview where she called them “a bunch of f***ers.”
“The president-elect was able to connect with people over this sense of unity,” O’Malley Dillon told Glamour in an interview published Tuesday.
“In the primary, people would mock him, like, ‘You think you can work with Republicans?’ I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of f***ers. Mitch McConnell is terrible. But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that. From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too.”
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Yes, I know that’s both horrible and mind-glowingly stupid, but tell me that you didn’t have a bad laugh reading it. And naturally, O’Malley Dillon has her defenders. Here’s thought-hovel Refinery29’s take on it: “Honestly, ‘F***ers’ Is Too Kind A Word For Republicans Right Now.” Because I’m sure no one thinks the same thing about O’Malley Dillon or Refinery29 writer Natalie Gontcharova. That’s how we achieve unity. We all think that expletive is too good of a word for the other side and we go from there.
Honestly, though. Gontcharova is entitled to spew however much venom gets her the clicks she needs, but O’Malley Dillon said this in the context “that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too.” Even healing with that “bunch of f***ers.”
Rubio pointed the obvious out:
Biden talks about unity and healing, but you want to know what they really think?
Read how the person he wants as the next WH deputy chief of staff called Republicans in Congress a bunch of f***ers
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 17, 2020
WARNING: The following tweet contains language that some readers may find offensive.
And in barged Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, taking aim at Rubio because someone allegedly used awful language against her and also, taxes. Because why not?
.@marcorubio you stood by in total silence when your GOP colleague called a Congresswoman a “f— b—“ on the Capitol steps in front of press.
You weren’t big enough to speak then, & you don’t get to sob now.
BTW that is the right word for those who fleece & scam working families. https://t.co/gKoCnJ4App pic.twitter.com/qIERPlV7HR
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 17, 2020
So, for context: In July 2020, AOC got in a shouting match with Florida GOP Rep. Ted Yoho in which she alleged Yoho called her a “f***ing b****.” Yoho denied using those words, although he apologized for the heated nature of the talk, according to USA Today.
Absolutely nobody leaped to Yoho’s defense, it’s worth noting, and Ted Yoho isn’t a presumptive president-elect’s appointee promising unity. Anyhow, AOC doesn’t have a problem with “f***ers,” since she says “that is the right word for those who fleece & scam working families.”
Rubio had a one-word correction for her:
BTW, the right word for those who fleece & scam working families is actually “socialist” https://t.co/swg9GMu7Rf
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 17, 2020
Well played. And no asterisks required.
By the way, the back-and-forth between Rubio and Ocasio-Cortez had been going on for a little while, as previously stated. Here’s what happened earlier that month after AOC freaked out over the prospect of conservative investigative journalism outfit Project Veritas getting a Paycheck Protection Program loan:
Black-owned small businesses were widely shut out from accessing PPP loans, yet right-wing disinfo org PV took half a million in public money while decrying direct federal assistance as “radical socialism.”
Republicanism in a nutshell.
(Also they’re based in Mamaroneck?! ?) https://t.co/JARqvhgBmD
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 3, 2020
Working together R’s & D’s helped save the jobs of 55 million Americans through PPP
Work more, tweet less & one day you too can make a difference https://t.co/WprW5OR9LP
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 3, 2020
AOC’s rejoinder:
Yesterday I recruited 5,000 volunteers to train and tutor kids in my community who are struggling with remote learning, and that was after investigating the Treasury Secretary’s rationale for stopping CARES Act funding and voting on House legislation.
What did you do? https://t.co/Ytkq6qZKiI
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 3, 2020
AOC’s rejoinder falling apart:
Apologies for late response
Was busy this week helping a Floridian get travel documents to see his dying sister,a high schooler whose mother died get SSI benefits,a specialist for a child with a crazy Obamacare deductible & negotiating Intelligence bill & another round of PPP https://t.co/HlsFeQHp3m
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 4, 2020
#FindEasierCompetitionAOC.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
