Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) expressed the difficulty of constantly being in the spotlight in a recent interview.
“Sometimes I just want to be a human being. And you don’t get to be a human any more,” she told HuffPost on Tuesday. “Everything you do from wearing sweatpants to the bodega to getting a haircut ― every personal decision you make for yourself is never going to be yours any more.” {mosads}
She said that experiencing a lot of notoriety after defeating a powerful congressman in a 2018 primary was “right up there with my family almost getting foreclosed on ― one of the most stressful experiences ever.”
Ocasio-Cortez told the news outlet that she has accepted that she won’t be able to have privacy due to the scrutiny on her and possible security threats she faces.
“You kind of grieve for that. It has its highs and it has its lows,” she said. “A lot of people look at the highs, but sometimes it feels like you got a tattoo on your face that you didn’t ask for. It’s hard. It’s very hard. Sometimes you just want to get a drink or eat a hamburger.”
The progressive Democrat also said she needs to balance this with her job of representing constituents.
“I can’t afford to be hidden away. In order for me to do my job, I need to be connected to people,” she said. “My job is to love people. And that’s very difficult sometimes given the amount of barriers.”
Since defeating then-Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) in a primary last year, Ocasio-Cortez has had constant media attention.
Earlier this year, while discussing her frequent Fox News coverage, she said, “Why are so many grown men obsessed with this 29-year-old?”
Ocasio-Cortez has also said she receives a “flood of death threats” when organizations put out hateful messages about her.