You would have to be living under a rock not to have heard of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, especially in recent months. The US Democratic politician was made Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district in January this year but the millennial is nothing like her predecessors.
The activist known best by her initials, AOC, wears Zara, serves up razor-sharp comebacks and until recently worked in a bar while launching her campaign. Oh and did we mention that she’s 29 years old?
Yes, AOC is one huge breath of fresh air, and with a political system in desperate need of a shake up – she couldn’t have come at a better time.
This was proven once more this week as the politician joined forces with three other Democratic women to take a stand against Donald Trump.
The President caused outrage this weekend as he called on several Democratic congresswomen of colour to ‘go home’ in a series of tweets that people are calling out as racist.
In response rose a squad - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep Ilhan Omar, all seemingly referred to in the tweets - and all American citizens.
Holding a joint press conference, ‘the squad’ as they have now become known took to the podium together to denounce Trump’s comments and to discuss the border conditions.
‘This president operates in complete bad faith. He does not operate in good faith, and so that’s one thing,’ AOC announced at the podium. ‘But second to the previous question as well, weak minds and leaders challenge loyalty to our country in order to avoid challenging and debating the policy. [Trump] does not know how to defend his policies. So what he does is attack us personally. And that is what this is all about.’
’It is time for us to stop allowing this president to make a mockery out of our Constitution,’ Ilhan Omar (Representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district) announced after calling him out for human rights abuses at the border and overseeing ‘the most corrupt administration in [America’s] history, insisting: ‘It’s time for us to impeach this president.’
‘Sadly, this is not the first nor will it be the last time we hear disgusting bigoted language from the president,’ Rashida Tlaib (Representative for Michigan's 13th congressional district) continued. ‘We know this is who he is. And we know that he and his administration are constantly engaged in actions that harm residents and American people in our country.’
‘I will always refer to [Trump] as the occupant as he is only occupying space,’ Ayanna Pressley (Representative for Massachusetts's 7th congressional district) announced during the press conference. ‘He does not embody the grace, the empathy, the compassion, the integrity that that office requires and that the American people deserve.’
And when talking about the squad, she stated: ‘Our squad is big. Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world.’
This is the squad we all needed.
