Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just stuck it to establishment trolls in style

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ‏
Support us and go ad-free

Just hours after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was sworn into Congress, right-wing establishment trolls struck. Presumably thinking they’d dent her glory as the youngest woman ever to be elected to the US House of Representatives, they tweeted a video of her dancing at Boston University. But Ocasio-Cortez showed them the new way of politics with a perfect response.

“Congresswomen dance too”

On 2 January, a now-deleted tweet said: “Here is America’s favorite commie know-it-all acting like a clueless nitwit she is… High School video of ‘Sandy’ Ocasio-Cortez.” alongside a video of Ocasio-Cortez dancing when she was a student. But if this was an attempt to take her down, it backfired. Badly.

It didn’t take long for a Twitter page called AOC Dances To Every Song to appear. But it didn’t mock her; it was a sheer celebration that mocked the right-wing establishment trolls, and it currently has over 16,000 followers.

It didn’t take long for Ocasio-Cortez to, quite simply, shut the trolls down:

And on 4 January, she took it to the next level and posted a video herself, dancing into her new office:

But behind the dancing is the ever powerful reminder of the politics Ocasio-Cortez stands for. She’s not afraid to take down the old school Democrats. AsThe Canary reported in November 2018, she joined progressive, anti-corporate funding groups to protest against Democrat house leader Nancy Pelosi’s office. She’s a socialist, a genuine progressive, and a true advocate for equality and a new way of doing politics:

She’s also working with Senator Bernie Sanders to forge a credible solution to the spiralling global climate crisis, called the ‘Green New Deal’.

“A new era”

Ocasio-Cortez was elected during midterms that dramatically changed the traditional face of US politics. As Vox reported, Congress:

now has a record-breaking number of women, people of color, and LGBTQ representatives — and they’ve already begun to shake things up. Because so many of the new House members are mothers with small children, for example, the Capitol is now adding baby-changing tables in the members-only bathrooms and considering possible changes to its working hours.

Because the November elections saw:

Meanwhile, 28 women in the new Congress are mothers of young children, and one baby has already been present during votes.

Ocasio-Cortez has also pointed out that many of these women are powerfully aware of the historic battle for women to gain political freedom and make their voices heard:

Given Donald Trump’s racist, sexist, and increasingly dangerous politics, it’s clear why the US electorate voted for change. The younger, diverse wave of newly elected politicians are a breath of fresh air after the old white men who’ve dominated US politics for too long. And dancing them into the future is Ocasio-Cortez, who truly is on point.

Featured image via screengrab

Support us and go ad-free

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us