Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday teed off on Sen. Mike Lee after the Utah Republican brought a cache of outlandish signs to be used as props as he dissed her Green New Deal climate proposal.
The freshman Democrat, known for her quick Twitter wit, asserted that “haters” like Lee can sometimes rid her of any doubts that she is qualified to be a lawmaker, reposting a tweet from progressive strategist Waleed Shahid along with a screen grab of Lee speaking on the Senate floor in front of a poster of babies.
“‘The solution to climate change is not this unserious resolution…the solution to so many of our problems at all times and in all places is to fall in love, get married, and have some kids.’” the tweet quoted Lee as saying.
Shahid added: “This is a real quote.”
“Like many other women + working people, I occasionally suffer from impostor syndrome: those small moments, especially on hard days, where you wonder if the haters are right,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “But then they do things like this to clear it right up. If this guy can be Senator, you can do anything.”
Lee, a staunch conservative, has deeply opposed the Green New Deal, Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey’s highly polarizing landmark climate proposal that the Senate is slated to vote on later Wednesday.
Lee took to the floor of the chamber with a host of unusual props to argue his point, including depictions of the former President Ronald Reagan riding on the back of a dinosaur and the cartoon superhero Aquaman.
Critics have ridiculed Ocasio-Cortez and Markey’s proposal after a rocky rollout in which supporting documents were accidentally sent out claiming the legislation would guarantee income for Americans unwilling to work and pushing for dramatically cutting down on air travel and beef consumption.
Wednesday’s procedural vote is largely expected to fail, but is being used as a messaging tactic by Republicans as an attempt to put Democrats on the record and paint them as radically outside the mainstream when it comes to environmental policy.
Lee on Wednesday insisted his floor stunt, which propelled the senator into a Twitter trending topic, was meant to illustrate how silly he believes the non-binding resolution to be.
“This isn’t going to pass — not today, not any time soon certainly. Rather, after reading the Green New Deal, I’m mostly afraid of not being able to get through this speech with a straight face,” he said on the floor. “For, Mr. President, I rise today to consider the Green New Deal with the seriousness it deserves.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s quip acknowledges her role as one of Republicans’ favorite punching bags. Conservatives constantly write the freshman congresswoman off for her lack of political experience, despite her surging popularity as one of the faces of the party’s progressive wing.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine
Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/26/ocasio-cortez-mike-lee-green-new-deal-1238007
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The Article Was Written/Published By: coprysko@politico.com (Caitlin Oprysko)
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