In one of the funnier Congressional incidents of 2023, one that caused quite a large degree of online commentary and mockery, “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortes had a bit of a meltdown on the floor of Congress, yelling about racism and slamming her notebook on the podium in protest of a GOP resolution.
As background, the February of 2023 incident was sparked by a resolution pushed by some in the GOP caucus to oust Rep. Ilhan Omar from a Congressional committee over remarks made by her that many on both the right and left argued were tasteless and anti-semitic. The resolution, which passed and removed Rep. Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee, managed to spark a large degree of furor from the “Squad.”
During her freakout, AOC declared that the attempt to oust Rep. Omar from Congress over her awful remarks stemmed not from a concern about the nature and taste of her abominable rhetoric, but rather about wanting to target non-white women. AOC declared, at one point, “This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America.”
Preceeding that, AOC attacked the idea that the attempt to oust Rep. Omar stems from any degree of caring about consistency in rhetoric, declaring, “There is nothing consistent with the Republican Party’s continued attack, except for the racism and incitement of violence against women of color in this body.”
Continuing, she obliquely attacked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, saying, “Don’t tell me this is about consistency, don’t tell me that this is a condemnation of antisemitic remarks when you have a member of the Republican caucus who has talked about Jewish space lasers and also elevated her to some of the highest committee assignments in this body.”
That is when AOC got to her line about the resolution being a racist attack on non-white women, saying, “This is about targeting women of color in the United States of America.” As Rep. AOC made her angry remarks about the resolution, she loudly and aggressively slammed her notebook on the podium in a furor.
Watch her here:
As might be expected, AOC furious rant and notebook-slamming incident on the floor of Congress led to many a joke being made about her online. For example, the Real Mac Report X account said, “Omg 🤡AOC just threw a temper tantrum on the House Floor, slamming her notebook on the podium as she finished speaking.”
Replying, a slew of comments chimed in and said things like, “The very definition of… Political Theater. smFh,” “She looks and sounds like a junior high student throwing a fit because someone took her pencil,” “I miss when Congress was a place of decorum,” and “Beware of those who favor emotion over facts.”
Omar was defiant as the vote was held, saying, “My leadership and voice will not be diminished if I am not on this committee for one term. My voice will get louder and stronger.” She continued, “So take your vote or not – I am here to stay, and I am here to be a voice against harms around the world and advocate for a better world.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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