Watch LIVE
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) once again found herself at the center of social media backlash over the weekend after making what many considered racist remarks.
What happened?
It all began on Thursday when Ocasio-Cortez defended Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for accusing Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) of racism. Tlaib's accusation came after Meadows invited Lynne Patton, a top official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to a House Oversight Committee hearing in order to downplay accusations that President Donald Trump is racist.
"Just because someone has a person of color, a black person, working for them does not mean they aren't racist and … the fact someone would actually use a prop, a black woman in this chamber, in this committee is alone racist in itself," Tlaib said, according to the New York Post.
Ocasio-Cortez chimed in Thursday, saying: "Total bravery from @RashidaTlaib as she reminds the nation that tokenism *is* racism."
After backlash for her comments, Ocasio-Cortez on Saturday responded to a question from Fox Business Network host Charles Payne, who asked how many black people Ocasio-Cortez employs in her congressional office.
In her reply, Ocasio-Cortez again invoked what many deemed were racist comments.
We have Black staff. We don’t parade them around to show the world how diverse our team is, and use that as some ki… https://t.co/ek80Wfck5P— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1551540641.0
Payne responded to Ocasio-Cortez explaining exactly what is "problematic" with her comments.
Thanks for getting back. Its disappointing rhetoric to suggest people are paraded and belittle hiring of Black peop… https://t.co/5Gq8OkTwLs— Charles V Payne (@Charles V Payne) 1551545694.0
What did other people say?
Conservative commentator Dan Bongino characterized Ocasio-Cortez's comments as "obvious racism."
Why is the media refusing to call Rep. Ocasio-Cortez out for her open, and obvious, racism? https://t.co/6cEmmL4cQ2— Dan Bongino (@Dan Bongino) 1551550040.0
BlazeTV's Allie Beth Stuckey pointed out that Ocasio-Cortez's rules for racism are anything but clear.
So if someone doesn’t have any/enough black people on their staff, that’s racist. But if someone does have black pe… https://t.co/XxIhXr94vb— Allie Beth Stuckey (@Allie Beth Stuckey) 1551548221.0
Meanwhile, many others noted that Ocasio-Cortez is guilty of doing exactly what she criticized others for. That's because in the same Twitter thread where she criticized "tokenism," she highlighted her black staff.
"We have Black staff. We don’t parade them around," AOC says as she parades them around on Twitter to her millions… https://t.co/PPyK86z1Kh— Ryan Saavedra (@Ryan Saavedra) 1551556829.0
