Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at Fox News after an “America’s Newsroom” segment focusing on her struggle to afford an apartment in Washington, D.C.
In a tweet, the New York Democrat said it is “bizarre to see 1%-salaried anchors laugh at the US housing crisis.”
1. @FoxNews, why can’t any of your anchors say my name correctly? It’s been 5 months.
2. It is bizarre to see 1%-salaried anchors laugh at the US housing crisis.
3. Never purchased pricey clothes + always told my story. But repeating lies until they are believed is your thing. https://t.co/Py5aXFi3Z4
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 9, 2018
Fox News panelists laughed through a segment discussing Ocasio-Cortez’s comments from a New York Times interview published Wednesday in which the former bartender turned youngest woman to be elected to Congress said paying for housing in D.C. before her congressional salary kicks in was a “very real” issue.
Contributor Judy Miller called Ocasio-Cortez’s admission a “political line” that would appeal to her supporter base.
“I think what she’s talking about is all of the money in Washington, all of the wealth in Washington, all of the power and a little, simple person like her from New York can’t find a place to live,” Miller said. “It is a brilliant political line.”
Anchor Ed Henry pointed to Ocasio-Cortez’s pictures from photoshoots following her primary win, claiming, “She had these multi thousand-dollar outfits that could pay a month’s rent in Washington D.C.” and that she is “all over the map on some of this stuff.”
But Ocasio-Ortez denied purchasing pricey clothes, and in a later tweet said she has “no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed.”
There is no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed.
Mocking lower incomes is exactly how those who benefit from + promote wealth inequality the most keep everyday people silent about 1 of the worst threats to American society: that the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer. https://t.co/aWaOzy7UJJ
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 9, 2018
“Mocking lower incomes is exactly how those who benefit from + promote wealth inequality the most keep everyday people silent about 1 of the worst threats to American society: that the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer,” she tweeted.
Ocasio-Cortez told the Times that she has found the job transition to be “very unusual,” and attributed that to the electoral system, which she argued doesn’t make it easy for working-class people to rise to leadership positions. She said she hopes the money she saved from bartending would last until January.
Ocasio-Cortez first made in headlines in June after defeating Democratic incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley during the primary race for New York’s 14th Congressional District. Running on on liberal positions such as “Medicare for all” and the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she beat her Republican opponent, Anthony Pappas, Tuesday night. As a member of Congress, Ocasio-Cortez will make $174,000 a year, according to NBC Washington.
According to the latest rent-income analysis study published by personal finance company SmartAsset, D.C. residents need to earn six figures to afford the average two-bedroom apartment in the city. Average one-bedroom units usually cost over $1960 a month to rent, the site says. The study noted that “on a monthly basis the average two-bedroom apartment costs $2,500. Over a year, those rent payments will equal roughly $30,300.”
Washington, D.C. ranks sixth in SmartAsset’s list of incomes needed to afford apartments in cities across the U.S. Its paycheck calculator estimates that at the given salary figure of $174,000, Ocasio-Cortez’s semi-monthly take-home pay would be $4,817 after taxes.
