Report: Death Threats Against Ocasio-Cortez Prompted Capitol Police To Train Her Staff On Risk Assessments
- 5 years ago
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become the face of what many call the future of the Democratic Party, but the attention she receives isn’t always good.
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become the face of what many call the future of the Democratic party, but the attention she receives isn't always good. According to TIME, Ocasio-Cortez's life has been threatened on a number of occasions. The publication reports: "In her first three months in Congress, aides say, enough people have threatened to murder Ocasio-Cortez that Capitol Police trained her staff to perform risk assessments of her visitors." She has also become a favorite target for conservatives and moderate Democrats alike. Joel Benenson, a past adviser for both Barack Obama's and Hillary Clinton's campaigns, told TIME that the party needs moderate candidates if it wants to win and commented: "America isn't her district. Democrats shouldn't take the bait."
Republicans' attacks range from being dismissive to accusatory. Efforts to make her look frivolous include the circulation of a video from her college years that show her doing a "Breakfast Club" style dance on a rooftop, suggesting it displays the lack of seriousness required to be a lawmaker. At the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, former Trump White House aide Sebastian Gorka compared the Green New Deal, an initiative Ocasio-Cortez supports, to a watermelon, commenting, "It's green on the outside, deep, deep red communist on the inside" and "what Stalin dreamt about, but never achieved."
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become the face of what many call the future of the Democratic party, but the attention she receives isn't always good. According to TIME, Ocasio-Cortez's life has been threatened on a number of occasions. The publication reports: "In her first three months in Congress, aides say, enough people have threatened to murder Ocasio-Cortez that Capitol Police trained her staff to perform risk assessments of her visitors." She has also become a favorite target for conservatives and moderate Democrats alike. Joel Benenson, a past adviser for both Barack Obama's and Hillary Clinton's campaigns, told TIME that the party needs moderate candidates if it wants to win and commented: "America isn't her district. Democrats shouldn't take the bait."
Republicans' attacks range from being dismissive to accusatory. Efforts to make her look frivolous include the circulation of a video from her college years that show her doing a "Breakfast Club" style dance on a rooftop, suggesting it displays the lack of seriousness required to be a lawmaker. At the recent Conservative Political Action Conference, former Trump White House aide Sebastian Gorka compared the Green New Deal, an initiative Ocasio-Cortez supports, to a watermelon, commenting, "It's green on the outside, deep, deep red communist on the inside" and "what Stalin dreamt about, but never achieved."