White House Counsellor Kellyanne Conway has chastised Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over her Twitter silence in the wake of Sri Lanka church bombings on Easter.
READ MORE: CCTV Footage of Sri Lanka Hotel Bombing Appears Online (VIDEO)
During her appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Conway told host Jake Tapper that AOC had repeatedly tweeted about the shooting at two Christchurch mosques last month that left 50 people killed, but didn’t post anything about the series of blasts in Sri Lanka that resulted in over 250 deaths on Easter Sunday.
It didn’t take Ocasio-Cortez long to reply to Conway’s verbal assault, as she defended her not posting on Twitter by claiming that she had taken a social media break while visiting her grandmother in Puerto Rico.
Hello Ms. Conway,
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) 28 апреля 2019 г.
On Easter I was away from tech visiting my grandmother in Puerto Rico, which continues to suffer from the White House’s incompetent disaster response.
Are you trying to imply that I am less Christian? What was the point of you bringing this up on national TV? https://t.co/TIypLf2CaB
In a follow-up tweet, the New York congresswoman wrote that the “terrorist attack in Sri Lanka was horrifying” and defended Democrats’ calling victims of the bombings “Easter worshippers” – a phrase which was called “odd” by Conway:
The terrorist attack in Sri Lanka was horrifying. Saying ‘Easter worshippers’ matters bc Easter is the holiest day of the year for Christians, & to be targeted on Easter highlights how heinous the attack was — just as saying yesterday’s #SanDiego shooting was on Passover.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) 28 апреля 2019 г.
She then continued by claiming that Conway was using her Twitter hiatus as “an excuse to stoke suspicion around my Christianity + faith life”:
You are using this as an excuse to stoke suspicion around my Christianity + faith life, @KellyannePolls.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) 28 апреля 2019 г.
The Sri Lanka massacre was horrifying. No one should be targeted for their religion.
If you’re so moved, let’s do more to welcome immigrants fleeing religious persecution.
The spat continued after Conway replied to AOC’s tweets, saying that she was glad that the freshman congresswoman condemned the Sri Lanka carnage, but couldn’t resist noting that despite her supposed tech break, she had tweeted about her movie on Netflix:
1/2: Hi Congresswoman @AOC.
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) 28 апреля 2019 г.
My best to your grandmother.
My grandmothers are irreplaceable; miss them every day.
Good that you now condemn Sri Lanka massacre. Some found it odd a prolific tweeter was silent. Following day you tweeted about your movie:https://t.co/KERH0AD2je https://t.co/CpbunUz6C8
In her second tweet, Conway said that she wasn’t judging anyone’s faith, including AOC’s:
2/2: @AOC you and I agree. I said on @CNN today & elsewhere that people of all faiths should be free from harm.
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) 28 апреля 2019 г.
I judge no one’s faith, incl. yours
Extreme Ideas like Green New Deal & Socialized Medicine DO scare me tho!
Areas for bipartisanship? Call me.
Much work to do 🇺🇸 https://t.co/0t463Hlqw7
It looks like many social media users shared Conway’s sentiment, saying that AOC didn’t immediately condemn Sri Lanka attacks because she “couldn’t politicise” them…
AOC only tweeted about New Zealand/Poway because firearms were used and she could use those victims to push her far-left gun control agenda
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) 28 апреля 2019 г.
Bombs were used in Sri Lanka, therefore she couldn't politicize the attack.
I am Sri Lankan @AOC silence for days pathetic compared to the way she tweeted about New Zealand.
— Uresh Perera (UP) (@UreshP) 28 апреля 2019 г.
The internet works in Puerto Rico. And you've made it back to your phone since. Couldn't tweet some support for Christians when you turned your phone on?
— Newman (@snewman1230) 28 апреля 2019 г.
Weird, because it looks like the day after the Sri Lanka attack occurred you had enough time & tech to send out a tweet promoting your upcoming @netflix documentary…But nothing for hundreds killed in Sri Lanka?
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) 28 апреля 2019 г.
Come up with a better lie next time.https://t.co/4Nnxz4FbCb https://t.co/8oLiYd5QOf
…and slammed her justification for calling Christians “Easter worshippers”:
Bzzz, incorrect answer! The phrase "Easter Worshippers" was used by the Left to avoid saying that Christians were targeted by Islamic terrorists. It doesn't fit their narrative. You tweeted about the New Zealand attack 14 times, nothing but crickets about Sri Lanka, deliberately.
— Kristin Beard (@5towheads) 29 апреля 2019 г.
So ur going to call the Jews that were attacked in their synagogue Passover Worshippers?
— Apparently a Russian bot 👍🏻👍🏾👍🏽👍🏿👍👌 (@HuskerPwrGaming) 29 апреля 2019 г.
It’s very easy to say that “Christians were attacked in Sri Lanka on Easter, the holiest day of the year, while at mass.”
Ik it’s hard 4 u 2 do things like b smart, but it’s not tht hard
The left, including yourself, downplay the violence against Christians consistently.
— Libertarian Lycan (@LibertyLycan) 29 апреля 2019 г.
By saying “Easter worshipers” you eliminate the establishment of connection between the current religious war being raged.
You didn’t say “Passover worshipers”. You didn’t say “Allah worshipers”
Your justification for saying “Easter Worshippers” is a weak argument, like usual with you.
— Apparently a Russian bot 👍🏻👍🏾👍🏽👍🏿👍👌 (@HuskerPwrGaming) 29 апреля 2019 г.
It’s really not hard to say that Christians were attacked on Easter.
We don’t worship the damn Easter Bunny, we worship Jesus Christ.
It’s not that hard
They were Christians. Call them the right way. It’s very simple!
— elsalamander28 (@elsalamander28) 29 апреля 2019 г.
The AOC-Conway spat comes in the aftermath of the Sri Lanka attacks on Easter, 21 April, when multiple blasts killed more than 250 people in churches and luxury hotels.
READ MORE: Sri Lanka Bans All Clothing Covering Face Under Emergency Regulations
The Sri Lankan government has accused local terrorist group Thowheeth Jama’ath for the attacks, but last week media reports suggested that Daesh* had claimed responsibility for the bombings. Immediately after the blasts, Sri Lanka launched a criminal probe, and has already detained over 100 suspects as a result of a full-blown security operation.
*Daesh, also known as ISIS/IS/Islamic State, is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.