Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dismisses state Rep for calling her this girl

Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez won a surprise primary election in Queens, New York
last month.
Spencer
Platt/Getty

• Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis dismissed Alexandria
  Ocasio-Cortez as “this girl … whatever she is” at a recent
  campaign rally.
• Ocasio-Cortez has since alluded that those comments
  will cost DeSantis in upcoming elections.
• DeSantis also criticized the progressive candidate
  accidentally referring to Israel’s “occupation of Palestine” in
  a recent interview, and said she had “no clue what she’s
  talking about.”
• Ocasio-Cortez beat an establishment Democrat in New
  York’s congressional primary elections earlier this year,
  representing a major upset in the Democratic Party.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the millennial Democratic congressional
candidate, has clapped back at a Republican representative for
dismissing her as “this girl Ocasio-Cortez, or whatever she is.”

Ron DeSantis, who represents Florida’s 6th District, said at a
campaign event on Saturday: “You look at this girl,
Ocasio-Cortez, or whatever she is — I mean, she’s in a totally
different universe. Basically, socialism wrapped in ignorance.”

A video of the event in Orange Park, Florida, was posted on
YouTube and obtained by HuffPost on Monday. Watch it below:

Later on Monday, Ocasio-Cortez clapped back at DeSantis and
alluded that those comments would cost him in upcoming elections.

She
tweeted:

“Rep DeSantis, it seems you’re confused as to ‘whatever I am.’

“I am a Puerto Rican woman. It’s strange you don’t know what that
is, given that ~75,000 Puerto Ricans have relocated to Florida in
the 10 [months] since [Hurricane] María.

“But I’m sure these new FL voters appreciate your comments!”

DeSantis is running for Florida’s governorship later this year,
and was
said to be leading his opponent Adam Putnam in a poll
published last week. President Donald Trump has endorsed him.

In the campaign video, DeSantis also criticizes a recent
PBS News interview Ocasio-Cortez did, where the Democratic
candidate referred to Israel’s “occupation of Palestine” as being
an “increasing crisis of humanitarian condition.”

Her comments were a deviation from the US’s official position,
which
recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Ocasio-Cortez walked back her comments moments later, saying in
the same interview: “Oh — I think what I meant is the settlements
that are increasing in some of these areas and places where
Palestinians are experiencing difficulty and access to their
housing and homes.”

A
woman looks on as an Israeli vehicle demolishes Palestinian
dwellings in Abu Nuwar, a village in the occupied West
Bank.
Mohamad
Torokman/Reuters

That didn’t stop DeSantis from lashing out at Ocasio-Cortez.

DeSantis said on Saturday: “You’re saying that one of our best
allies is occupying some country. There’s never been a
Palestinian state. You’re just repeating these canned, left-wing
talking points, and you’re somehow the savior of the Democratic
Party? Good Lord.

“She is, I think, the symptom of some of the problems that we
have, or really laying that foundation. She has no clue what
she’s talking about. She doesn’t understand the principles of the
Constitution. Hers is just: Spout this talking point or that.”

David Vasquez, a spokesman for DeSantis’ campaign, told HuffPost
that DeSantis’ comments were “expanding on the importance of
education,” and that teaching children the Constitution could
“prevent more socialists like Ocasio-Cortez calling for ‘free’
everything.”

He did not answer when asked about the “this girl” comment.

Ron
DeSantis and Donald Trump Jr at a gubernatorial campaign rally in
Orlando.
John
Raoux/AP

Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic Party’s congressional
primary election for New York’s 14th District last month,
beating Joe Crowley, who had occupied his seat since 1999 and
been touted as a potential future House speaker. She has since
accused Crowley of
mounting a third party bid against her.

Her victory in the primaries represented a major upset within the
Democratic Party, which has seen a schism between establishment
and progressive Democrats since the 2016 election.

Her success has also appeared to rattle the Republican Party.
Ocasio-Cortez has been
touring the country to support progressive Democratic
candidates in their state elections.