Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) got into a heated online exchange on Monday after Scott took a jab at the Green New Deal and Ocasio-Cortez shot back that it was embarrassing that a sitting U.S. senator could say something “lacking so much critical thinking.”
Scott later claimed that Ocasio-Cortez didn’t understand sarcasm and that she embarrassed both herself and Congress as a whole.
{mosads}The exchange on Twitter started with Scott voicing criticism of Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) sweeping gun control proposal that includes license requirements for all gun owners. Scott denounced it as a “terrible idea,” adding that it would be “scary” if the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate assumed power in the White House.
“What’s next? Will we have to register sharp knives?” Scott asked on Twitter. “Maybe [Ocasio-Cortez] will make us register every time we buy meat as part of her #GreenNewDeal.”
Ocasio-Cortez accused Scott’s statement of lacking “honesty.”
“If you were a female candidate, maybe you’d be called ‘unlikeable,’ ‘crazy,’ or ‘uninformed,'” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “But since you’re not, this inadequacy is accepted as normal.”
Scott responded by claiming that he was being sarcastic about the Green New Deal, a progressive proposal that calls for radical reforms to combat climate change.
“That a sitting Congresswoman doesn’t understand sarcasm would be embarrassing to the institution if you hadn’t embarrassed yours to the point of irrelevance already,” Scott said. “America rejects socialism and will continue to.”
The tense back-and-forth between Scott and Ocasio-Cortez comes months after the freshman Democrat introduced the Green New Deal with Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
Progressives have praised the legislation, which aims to make numerous reforms to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. But Republicans have widely condemned it, pointing to its high costs.