Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Friday shot back at criticism from right-wing figures after a photo of her on vacation with her boyfriend in Florida was shared online, suggesting that her critics stop “projecting their sexual frustrations” on her.
Steve Cortes, a former Trump campaign adviser, shared a photo on Twitter on Friday of Ocasio-Cortez in public with her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, vacationing in Florida.
Cortes attacked Ocasio-Cortez for not wearing a mask in public and also took aim at Roberts’s “gross pale male feet in public.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded by retweeting the photo and writing, “If Republicans are mad they can’t date me they can just say that instead of projecting their sexual frustrations onto my boyfriend’s feet. Ya creepy weirdos.”
“It’s starting to get old ignoring the very obvious, strange, and deranged sexual frustrations that underpin the Republican fixation on me, women,& LGBT+ people in general,” the New York congresswoman added. “These people clearly need therapy, won’t do it, and use politics as their outlet instead. It’s really weird.”
Ian Haworth, editor of The Daily Wire, replied to Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet by writing, “I definitely do not want to date you.”
“I’m glad you felt the need to share that with the world,” Ocasio-Cortez quipped. “Don’t worry, this is a totally normal thought to have and share as an editor of a right-wing website, and totally doesn’t prove my point at all. I hear if you say it enough times you’ll actually start to believe it.”
She added that she found it “so creepy/weird” that people like Haworth are “responsible for shaping the NEWS HEADLINES we all see in media should be really concerning.”
Ocasio-Cortez has family that lives in Florida, with her mother, Blanca Ocasio-Cortez, having moved to the state shortly before her daughter launched her successful congressional campaign.
Earlier on Friday, the hashtag #AOCLovesDeSantis began trending on Twitter as critics of Ocasio-Cortez blasted her for traveling to Florida.
They argued Ocasio-Cortez was acting hypocritically by traveling to a state with fewer COVID-19 restriction when she has previously spoken in support of pandemic mitigation measures and mask-wearing.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) campaign shared the photo of Ocasio-Cortez, tweeting, “Welcome to Florida, AOC! We hope you’re enjoying a taste of freedom here in the Sunshine State thanks to @RonDeSantisFL’s leadership.”
“Hasn’t Gov. DeSantis been inexplicably missing for like 2 weeks?” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in response to the jibes. “If he’s around, I would be happy to say hello. His social media team seems to have been posting old photos for weeks. In the meantime, perhaps I could help with local organizing. Folks are quite receptive here :)”