Just when you think you have heard it all from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the democratic socialist candidate for Congress from New York City tops her previous comments.
Ben Shapiro, the editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire, had invited Ocasio-Cortez to debate him on his Sunday Special podcast, saying he would donate $10,000 to the candidate’s campaign if she agreed. Shapiro left it up to Ocasio-Cortez, and said if the donation was not her preference, the debate could be used to raise funds for her charity or choice. So, it seems like a given that Ocasio-Cortez would take Shapiro up on that offer, right?
Not exactly.
This is where it got interesting and ridiculous at the same time. The Daily Wire published an article discussing Shapiro’s invitation to debate, and how Ocasio-Cortez had not responded. Rather than respond to Shapiro, Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter and posted this astonishing comment:
“Just like catcalling, I don’t owe a response to unsolicited requests from men with bad intentions. And also like catcalling, for some reason they feel entitled to one.”
Where does one even begin to point out all the ridiculousness of that tweet?
News travels fast in this era of social media, and the cyber ink was barely dry on the tweet by Ocasio-Cortez when the outrage commenced. Droves of people took to Twitter and expressed their views, ranging from clever to angry to humorous.
Ocasio-Cortez might have thought she handled the situation in an appropriate way, but the reality is that her approach quite possibly backfired. For one thing, she embarrassed herself by bringing attention to the fact that she had ignored Shapiro’s debate invitation.
Minutes after Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, Shapiro responded.
“Discussion and debate are not ‘bad intentions,'” the response read. “Slandering someone as a sexist catcaller without reason or evidence does demonstrate cowardice and bad intent, however.”
And moments after that, Shapiro tweeted again:
“But sure, go with ‘the Orthodox Jew who has never catcalled a woman in his life is ACKSHUALLY a sexist catcaller for asking for a discussion or debate.’ I’m sure your media sycophants will eat it up.”
Talk about putting Ocasio-Cortez in her place.
In an interview after that on Fox News, Shapiro said there would be no real benefit for Ocasio-Cortez of debating with Shapiro, and that she would struggle if she had a debate with someone who asked her tough questions.
It is really outrageous for Ocasio-Cortez to equate Shapiro’s serious debate invitation to catcalling. Since when is a discussion of pertinent issues a sexist and demeaning endeavor? How is an invitation to debate the issues an “unsolicited request?” On what basis did Ocasio-Cortez think Shapiro had “bad intentions?” It has been a common practice for many years for a person with one political stance to challenge someone with an opposing stance to a debate. Apparently Ocasio-Cortez did not realize that, which is particularly troublesome considering that she is supposed to be considered a serious candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.
So will the debacle cause Ocasio-Cortez to agree to a debate with Shapiro after all? What will happen next? It will definitely be interesting to see how things unfold. As is true with all things political these days, and as the saying goes, “Stay tuned.” This midtern election season is anything but typical or predictable, especially when there are candidates like Ocasio-Cortez.
~ Liberty Planet
