Video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) laying a verbal smackdown on a condescending House Republican colleague has gone viral on social media.
During floor debate Thursday on a bill that would require the federal government “to approve a plan to increase drilling on federal lands and waters” before drawing fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in non-emergency cases, Ocasio-Cortez proposed an amendment to the legislation, HuffPost reports.
(AOC) argued in a speech on the House floor Thursday that leasing more land to fossil fuel companies wouldn’t guarantee a drop in gas prices and added that companies making profits won’t “pass along” the savings to consumers.
“What leasing more land does do, however, is guarantee that we will accelerate the devastating impact of climate change,” Ocasio-Cortez argued.
That led Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) to rise and address Ocasio-Cortez:
“You care about the air quality, you care about climate change. Natural gas is what got America there. Educate yourself on that.”
In response, Ocasio-Cortez took a rhetorical flamethrower to Duncan, telling him:
“I understand in this body it’s not the first time that it seems as though the opposing side can’t seem to be able to debate the issue and so they must come after my character.
“While I cannot control the fact that the other side seems to have made the assumption that I am uneducated, one of the things I can say… is while I may not work for Wall Street, that is true. I may not be here with the mission to increase profits for corporations, that is true. My mission here is for the well-being and dignity of our family and our planet’s future, for our children’s ability to live on this planet.”
She also took Duncan to task later in the day on Twitter:
“Fewer things are more predictable than Republicans having a meltdown when I’m clearing them in a debate.”
“In case you’re curious about why this man is so angry with me, it may be because I introduced an amendment to a GOP bill that would prohibit oil and gas companies who engage in stock buybacks from leasing federal lands,” she wrote, adding “Seems as though I hit a nerve!”
