The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Ocasio-Cortez, booed for her Pelosi vote, fires back: ‘Don’t hate me cause you ain’t me’

On Jan. 3, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) cast her vote in support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). (Video: The Washington Post)

Newly minted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has attracted endless amounts of attention after becoming the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, was jeered as she cast her vote for Nancy Pelosi as House speaker Thursday.

Then the 29-year-old congresswoman responded on social media, where she has become something of a star.

Ocasio-Cortez quote-tweeted a video showing some GOP lawmakers booing her as she entered her vote. Pelosi (D-Calif.) was elected in a 220-192 vote over House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

“Over 200 members voted for Nancy Pelosi today, yet the GOP only booed one: me,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. “Don’t hate me cause you ain’t me, fellas,” she added, along with an emoji of a woman flipping her hand.

It was perhaps Ocasio-Cortez’s most Ocasio-Cortez response ever, and it had been retweeted tens of thousands of times by Friday morning.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s new favorite pastime appears to be trolling conservative critics

Since her election to Congress, Ocasio-Cortez has gained widespread attention from conservatives and liberals.

She has also sparred with her conservative critics, and fired back, too, after then-Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) called the incoming congresswoman “a bright and shiny new object.”

Hours before the start of the 116th Congress, a video went viral on social media, showing Ocasio-Cortez dancing on a rooftop back when she was a student at Boston University. It was an apparent effort to smear Ocasio-Cortez — but seemed to have the opposite effect, only adding to her popularity.

When asked about the video, the freshman congresswoman told a Hill reporter, “It is not normal for elected officials to have a reputation for dancing well and I’m happy to be one.”

Later, she posted a cheeky video on Twitter, showing her dancing her way into her office to Edwin Starr’s “War.”

Not long before she was booed, she did share one clip of a somewhat different reception she received in Washington:

Read more:

A video of Ocasio-Cortez dancing in college leaked to smear her. Instead, the Internet finds it adorable.

Ocasio-Cortez fires back after McCaskill calls her ‘a bright and shiny new object’

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she’s taking a ‘self-care’ break. Here’s what that means.

Loading...