US Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocazio-Cortez tweeted her "love" for oil prices turning negative on Monday, pointing out that it indicates that now is "just the right time" for a "mass investment in green infrastructure". After receiving sharp criticism for her statement, she edited the tweet, but the original screenshots quickly went viral.
Steve Scalise, House Republican Minority Whip, retweeted Ocazio-Cortez's original words, slamming her for appearing to be willing "to sacrifice people's jobs and livelihoods" in support of what he characterized as a "radical socialist agenda".
Some netizens lambasted Ocazio-Cortez's tweet, pointing out that families and lives have become endangered by a dangerously unstable oil market.
While some users did not enjoy "the celebration of Americans losing their job", others added that it is not something one could simply "tweet through".
Some users suggested that AOC's tweet on discarding fossil fuels was economically incompetent.
AOC's viral tweet comes following WTI oil prices going negative for the first time in history on Monday, bottoming out at -$37.63 per barrel. The oil market crisis continues amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that is shutting down economies across the world, and collapsing the demand for oil products; a destabilization that is affecting other prominent industries as well.