When asked by late-night host Stephen Colbert how she feels about criticism from the senior Democratic ranks, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she gives “zero” f**ks about it.
“Now, congresswoman, for you and other freshmen members of Congress, you're getting a fair amount of pushback from even members of your own party saying ‘wait your turn, go slow, don't ask for so much so fast right now, you're new, wait your turn for everything and don't make waves'", Colbert said on the The Late Show, continuing still further:
“On a scale from zero to some, how many f*** do you give?”
“I think it’s zero”, Ocasio-Cortez replied laughingly.
The news was instantly picked up on social media, with Twitterians misquoting Ocasio-Cortez as having actually said “giving zero F*** ABOUT WHAT Democrats think”. Some, including the congresswoman herself, rushed to correct the point without delay:
I actually didn’t say this, so while I know “brown women cursing” drives clicks, maybe you accurately quote the whole exchange instead of manipulating people into thinking I said this sentence instead of just the word “zero.” https://t.co/MrXIbALNP3
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) 22 января 2019 г.
.@AOC didn’t say she gives zero f*cks about what Democrats think. She was asked a comical question about how many f*cks she gives about the few Dems criticizing her by a late night comedian, and she said zero. And it was funny. Fake hysteria over nothing. Dance on, Congresswoman.
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) 22 января 2019 г.
One even pointed to the aforementioned remarks being sexist, with another countering the rhetoric by saying Trump that always finds himself in deep water over his foul language, as well:
Only women are criticized for using this kind of language. When a man says it on a hot mic, it gets shrugged off.
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) 22 января 2019 г.
So Joyce, you're saying Trump is/was never criticized for foul language? Come on. We both know that's false.
— Adam Noble (@AdamDNoble) 22 января 2019 г.
However, some thought that by correcting the media reports, Ocasio-Cortez is just “making an issue” out of it, as they believe there was no criticism directed at her in the media:
The problem is nobody criticized her. She’s making it an issue. Just. Stop.
— deb elliott (@deb__elliott) 22 января 2019 г.
Others suggested that a war on Twitter is being waged specifically to divide the Democrats:
I don’t even see this as different standards. She was simply attacked to divide the party. Just needs to get used to it, that’s all. Great comeback though!!
— No T Bone (@zaharbrun2) 22 января 2019 г.
The freshman Democratic Rep. made headlines the other day after she addressed US social disparities and hit at the country’s billionaires, proposing a 70 percent tax rate on earnings above $10 million.
"It's wild that some people are more scared of a marginal tax rate than the fact that 40% of Americans struggle to pay for at least one basic need, like food or rent", she tweeted around the time the economic forum in Davos kicked off.
26 Billionaires in the world have more money than 3.8 billion people combined. yeah so I am standing with @AOC when she correctly said that it is immoral that less than 30 people have more wealth than half the world’s population.
— Rosa A. Clemente (@rosaclemente) 22 января 2019 г.