Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez grabbed another opportunity for political theater at a House hearing on the border crisis.
Ahead of her testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Friday, the New York Democrat created an awkward moment with an odd request.
(Video: Twitter)
“I would like to be sworn in,” the freshman lawmaker stated, and repeated, as she prepared to testify.
“We usually don’t require a swearing in, but you want to be sworn in?” Chairman Elijah Cummings asked, and then went ahead with the process when Ocasio-Cortez affirmed.
She took to Twitter later to explain her reasons for going against House protocol and asking to be sworn in was because Republicans had been “stating that I am lying about the translated accounts of migrants at the border.”
Hey Mika – GOP has alleged that I am lying about the accounts of migrant women at the border, particularly about the fact that they were were told to drink out of a toilet bowl.
Committee staff conferred with me ahead of time about formally requesting to be sworn in. https://t.co/AppdBZJ4z6
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 12, 2019
“Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is more interested in scoring political points than actually solving the crisis at the southern border,” a Republican source told the Washington Examiner.
“Time and time again, she chooses photo-ops over actually legislating. Just look at today’s hearing. She asked to be sworn in prior to testifying before the Oversight Committee — something that never happens for members of Congress,” the source close to the committee added. “But that doesn’t matter to her. She just needed something to tweet. It just shows that Democrats are obsessed with political theater and attacking the president, rather than solving real problems facing the American people.”
Ocasio-Cortez delivered her impassioned remarks to the panel, reiterating her previous comments about what she claimed were horrible conditions at border detention facilities the alleged mistreatment of migrants by border agents.
AOC: “When these women tell me…that their sink was not working… and they were told to drink out of a toilet bowl – I believed them…I believed the canker sores that I saw in their mouths…I believed them when they said they were sleeping on concrete floors for two months.” https://t.co/No5OXklMgR
— David Wright (@DavidWright_CNN) July 12, 2019
“What’s worse, Mr. Chairman, was the fact that there were American flags hanging all over these facilities,” she said. “That children were being separated from their parents in front of the American flag, that women were being called these names under an American flag, we cannot allow for this.”
Twitter users blasted the freshman congresswoman for the spectacle she created and the excuse she gave.
Do we literally just have AOC’s word on the toilet thing? Has there been any reporting to that effect? https://t.co/mCaPtpgkm8
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) July 12, 2019
“Will it cut down the time for questions and give me cool TV footage?”
“Well, yes”
“Okay, swear me in.” https://t.co/EG8yZqqgoi— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 12, 2019
unnecessarily dramatic
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 12, 2019
This is nonsense. People can’t lie to Congress simply because they haven’t officially been sworn in. @RadioFreeTom
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) July 12, 2019
AOC said she was sworn in b/c GOP is accusing her of lying and that it wasn’t a stunt. Riiiight.
“Lying to Congress is always a crime,” a representative for Senator Dianne Feinstein clarified to TechCrunch. “You don’t need to be sworn in.”https://t.co/1se1ZABriE
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) July 12, 2019
AOC: *engages in repeated media stunts*
Media: *covers repeated stunts*
Me: *criticizes all the stunts*
AOC Cult: Why can’t you just leave her alone and respect her hard work and intelligence based on five minutes of questioning she did in a hearing months ago— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 12, 2019
AOC: Look at me, look at me.
Also AOC: Why is everyone looking at me.
— Melissa M Melville (@nerdygrrl) July 12, 2019
This is such surprising behavior coming from the woman who yanked beds out from underneath migrant children so she could complain Trump makes them sleep on the floor https://t.co/Y2PbQA7HT5
— John Hayward (@Doc_0) July 12, 2019
Just like her fence visit… its all just for a nice photo opp
— Bob Malak (@bob_malak) July 12, 2019
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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