Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., shared a three-year-old quote on Twitter from Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., leading Falwell Jr. to lash back and call Ocasio-Cortez a liar.
“‘I always thought that if more good people had concealed carry permits,then we could end these Muslims before they [unintelligible].’ This was just this weekend at CPAC, the conference attended by the President and members, to 1000s,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Where’s the resolution against Islamophobia?”
“I always thought that if more good people had concealed carry permits,then we could end these Muslims before they [unintelligible].”
This was just this weekend at CPAC, the conference attended by the President and members, to 1000s.
Where’s the resolution against Islamophobia? https://t.co/eXA9F1fezI
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 5, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez was commenting on and re-sharing a video from Talbert Swan II, a bishop associated with the Church of God in Christ. The 2015 video shows Falwell Jr. at Liberty University, which was not the venue for the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2019.
Falwell Jr.’s quote, which came from a speech the day after the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernadino, Calif., was specifically discussing the potential of thwarting mass shootings if more Americans had concealed carry permits and were armed. Falwell’s mention of Muslims specifically refers to the extremists who carried out the attack. The investigation revealed that the two culprits were inspired by Islamic extremism and discussed among themselves about jihad.
“If some of those people in that community center had had what I’ve got in my back pocket right now … I’ve always thought that if more good people had concealed carry permits then we could end those Muslims before they walk in and kill us,” Falwell Jr. said in the video.
Ocasio-Cortez referred to a House resolution condemning anti-Israel sentiments and reaffirming support of Israel’s right to exist, painting it as hypocritical given what she implied are anti-Islam attitudes among Republicans.
Falwell Jr., however, pushed back at the idea his comments were Islamophobic.
“I thought @AOC was just dumb but she is a liar too,” Falwell Jr. tweeted. “She claims this was @CPAC last week when it was actually in 2015 the day after the deadly CA attacks by radical Muslims (‘those’ Muslims I referenced) She also deleted the last part of my quote ‘before they walk in and kill us.'”
I thought @AOC was just dumb but she is a liar too. She claims this was @CPAC last week when it was actually in 2015 the day after the deadly CA attacks by radical Muslims (“those” Muslims I referenced) She also deleted the last part of my quote “before they walk in and kill us”. https://t.co/lIw4V4BaVj
— Jerry Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) March 5, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez insisted that her point still stood, despite Falwell Jr. not being a member of Congress or holding a public office. Liberty University is a private religious university.
“Thanks for clarifying the source tweet,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at someone correcting her. “Treatment is still completely different. The Bishop’s tweet is corrected for context here. Still wondering what the standards are for what merits a resolution and what doesn’t.”
The Bishop’s tweet is corrected for context here. Still wondering what the standards are for what merits a resolution and what doesn’t. https://t.co/Bv3dU3FNKq
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 5, 2019
House Democrats will add language that also rejects anti-Muslim prejudice to the resolution, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced later Tuesday night.
