# Why is conservative media obsessed with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 21, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906 "2018-11-21T17:44:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/201 "2018-11-28T01:41:29Z")
Apparently, Mrs. Palin of Alaska tweeted something like, _YIKES: Ocasio-Cortez Fumbles Basic Civics TWICE In 1 Statement_ I mean, yes, Palin was criticized for a stunning lack of intellect, but, OTOH, Ms. O-Cortez never won a beauty pageant. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/202 "2018-11-28T01:44:01Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > Well like I originally said, she keeps saying hilariously ill-informed things, so of course she’s continually catapulted into the public eye. > > Which some might argue isn’t a bad thing. No such thing as bad press in our hyper-polarized zeitgeist, as some might put it. What are these things she’s said? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/203 "2018-11-28T02:00:57Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > What are these things she’s said? _Unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs. Unemployment is low because people are working 60, 70, 80 hours a week and can barely feed their family."_ — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday, July 13th, 2018 in an interview on PBS’ “Firing Line”- Pants on Fire, Politifact. _“ICE is required to fill 34,000 beds with detainees every single night and that number has only been increasing since 2009.”_ — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Wednesday, June 27th, 2018 in an interview with The Intercept- False. Politifact. _“Just last year we gave the military a $700 billion budget increase, which they didn’t even ask for.”_ — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday, July 26th, 2018 in an interview on the Daily Show- False. Politifact. > **[Fact-checks | PolitiFact](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/list/?speaker=alexandria-ocasio-cortez)** > > PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/204 "2018-11-28T03:01:50Z")
Yeah, she says some pretty silly things and seems fairly misinformed. She’s a very junior politician and I’m sure she’ll pick things up as time goes on. I also don’t know why people here seem to be rushing to her defense – she’s a very junior member of the House and it will be many years before she can really make any sort of impact, so if she says some demonstrably silly things, so what? Just because conservatives want to boost her profile doesn’t mean liberals have to accept that. As for why conservative media focuses on her, I think that has been covered here well: she is close to the embodiment of their liberal boogeyman – young, liberal, female, foreign named, and she claims to be a socialist. I’m sure she’s more of a Danish-style socialist than a Venezuelan-style, but that won’t stop conservative media from doing the bait and switch. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/205 "2018-11-28T04:47:27Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > That’s fair. I spend most of my time chagrined and face-palming at this president, but I try to call balls and strikes. Trumpian Babble is bad, The incredibly stupid shit he says every time he opens his disgusting mouth isn’t really the problem. The problem is that he’s an imbecile slipping into dementia, of which the incredibly stupid shit he says is a mere symptom. > [@](#): > > Cortezian Headscratchers are bad, and uh, you know, whatever good thing she’s done is good. I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. Are you aware of the linear nature of time? If so, check the date. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/206 "2018-11-28T04:54:07Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Yeah, she says some pretty silly things and seems fairly misinformed… I also don’t know why people here seem to be rushing to her defense. It’s not that we’re rushing to her defense. It’s that anyone who voted for Trump but claims that AOC “saying occasionally silly things” is a big deal is probably lying about what they really think is a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/207 "2018-11-28T05:15:01Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > It’s not that we’re rushing to her defense. It’s that anyone who voted for Trump but claims that AOC “saying occasionally silly things” is a big deal is probably lying about what they really think is a big deal. Yeah, I got three quotes from Politifact for her, I could get hundreds on Trump. If not more. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/208 "2018-11-28T05:17:18Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > It’s not that we’re rushing to her defense. It’s that anyone who voted for Trump but claims that AOC “saying occasionally silly things” is a big deal is probably lying about what they really think is a big deal. Personally I think the pro-Trump faction delights in having a target of their own. On a deep level they surely understand the flawed nature of Trump, and now they have their turn to drink from the well, mocking a figurehead of the opposite ideological faction for obvious and embarrassing foibles. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/209 "2018-11-28T05:24:12Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > Well like I originally said, she keeps saying hilariously ill-informed things, so of course she’s continually catapulted into the public eye. > > Which some might argue isn’t a bad thing. No such thing as bad press in our hyper-polarized zeitgeist, as some might put it. “keeps saying”? Can you list 10 examples? ETA: Hell, I’ll spot you the three that **DrDeth** posted; just list 7 more examples. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/210 "2018-11-28T05:54:09Z")
Here’s a couple more. Ocasio-Cortez is going to help [“flip this seat red”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjeRnyj-2sI) in Kansas City. [This clip from 1:28 to 2:00.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT8icjgy3AM) “You use the term ‘the occupation of Palestine.’ What do you mean by that?” Cortez - “Um… I think what I meant is … like … the settlements that are increasing in some of these areas and places where Palestinians are experiencing difficulty in access to their housing and homes.” “Do you think you can expand on that?” Cortez - “Yeah… I mean, I think … I’d … also just— I am not the expert on geo-politics on this issue.” That whole interview is a goldmine, by the way, but now we’re up to five. Where did this requirement of 10 ill-informed comments come from, I have to ask? Seems lke an arbitrary number. Seems like five in her short career is pretty strong. Again, we’re discussing why she’s continually in the spotlight from the right, not whether these foibles are severe or just mild, only that they’re noteworthy foibles. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/211 "2018-11-28T06:19:16Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > now we’re up to five. Where did this requirement of 10 ill-informed comments come from, I have to ask? Seems like it was picked to be a number that you can’t achieve. 🙂 I bet I could find 10 examples of Trump saying stupid and insane shit on single day. And not just minor and inconsequential gaffes, like it seems AOC has done, but truly stupid and insane shit that proves he’s a demented imbecile. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/212 "2018-11-28T06:28:30Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > Here’s a couple more. > > Ocasio-Cortez is going to help [“flip this seat red”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjeRnyj-2sI) in Kansas City. Nope, not stupid, just a verbal typo. It would only be stupid if she had actually said “we’re going to flip this district Republican”. > [@Dacien](#): > > [This clip from 1:28 to 2:00.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT8icjgy3AM) > > “You use the term ‘the occupation of Palestine.’ What do you mean by that?” > > Cortez - “Um… I think what I meant is … like … the settlements that are increasing in some of these areas and places where Palestinians are experiencing difficulty in access to their housing and homes.” > > “Do you think you can expand on that?” > > Cortez - “Yeah… I mean, I think … I’d … also just— I am not the expert on geo-politics on this issue.” Nope, not stupid to stop yourself from saying something stupid and admitting that you don’t know enough to make a public comment. That’s actually a very smart thing to do, IMO. > [@Dacien](#): > > That whole interview is a goldmine, by the way, but now we’re up to five. Where did this requirement of 10 ill-informed comments come from, I have to ask? Seems lke an arbitrary number. Seems like five in her short career is pretty strong. Again, we’re discussing why she’s continually in the spotlight from the right, not whether these foibles are severe or just mild, only that they’re noteworthy foibles. You have 3 examples so far, not five. And the _request_ for 10 examples was made in the post directly before yours; you even replied to it at the beginning of your post with “Here’s a couple more.” The claim was that Miss O-C “keeps saying hilariously ill-informed things”, so it really shouldn’t be a problem for you to come up with 10 things. I mean, she _keeps_ saying them, according to you. I would think your list would be dozens and dozens of items now that she’s been in the spotlight for 6 months. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/213 "2018-11-28T06:37:26Z")
They all count. If you’re asking me why she keeps popping up on right-wing radar, these are examples. You may not like them, you may disagree with how severe they are, or how they’re characterized, but they’re seen as continual missteps, continual factual errors in a very short career, and that’s why she’s continually in the spotlight. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/214 "2018-11-28T06:43:29Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > They all count. If you’re asking me why she keeps popping up on right-wing radar, these are examples. You may not like them, you may disagree with how severe they are, or how they’re characterized, but they’re seen as continual missteps, continual factual errors in a very short career, and that’s why she’s continually in the spotlight. Sorry, but you’re not moving these goalposts. The assertion was “hilariously ill-informed” not “continual missteps” and thus far you have shown zero things that meet that low bar. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/215 "2018-11-28T07:53:59Z")
Wow. Absolutely wow. I have credentials that would surprise most Dopers; yet a ‘Best Hits’ tape of my own verbal gaffes would make me look like a demented fool. (I have to proofread my posts here or they’d be unintelligible.) AOC made three verbal gaffes, so is unqualified? Wow. Meanwhile, Sarah Palin remains an idol of the right wing despite that she’s repeatedly demonstrated she’s a drug- or alcohol-crazed ignoramus. And much that comes out of Trump’s barf-hole is false, alternating roughly between errors due to ignorance and deliberate lies. > [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > I bet I could find 10 examples of Trump saying stupid and insane shit on single day. And not just minor and inconsequential gaffes, like it seems AOC has done, but truly stupid and insane shit that proves he’s a demented imbecile. He also lacks the focus one expects from a leader. [Listen to this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WotiVvyS1yk): > [@](#): > > “You know what irks me, look, having nuclear, my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, doctor John Trump, at MIT, good, good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton school of finance, very good, very smart, you know IF YOU’RE a conservative republican, IF I WERE A LIBERAL, if like, OK, if I ran as a liberal democrat they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world, IT’S TRUE, but when you’re a conservative republican they try, oh, do they do a number, that’s why I always start off, went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fort, you know I have to give like my credentials all the time, cause we’re at a little disadvantaged, but, you look at the nuclear, the thing that REALLY BOTHERS me, it would have been so easy, and it’s not as as important as these lives are, NUCLEAR IS SO POWERFUL, my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power, and that was 35 years ago, he would explain, the power of what’s going to happen AND HE WAS RIGHT, who would have THOUGHT, but, when you look at what’s going on with the, eh, four prisoners, now, it used to be THREE, now it’s FOUR, but when it was three, AND EVEN NOW, I would have said ‘it’s all in the messenger, FELLAS’, and it is fellas because you know, they don’t, they haven’t figured out that the women are smarter right now than the men so, you know, it’s gonna take em about another 150 years, BUT the PERSIANS are great negotiators, the IRANIANS are great negosh, so, and they they just killed, they just killed us, this is horrible, but I would have said at the beginning: ‘FELLAS, you gotta let our prisoners go’, ‘it’s good for,’ 'look, you don’t need 'em, you don’t want ‘em’, it would send a great signal to the United States and it would make the rest of it easier, NOTHING.” I assume that those in the thread objecting to AOC’s verbal gaffes will offer a comment here giving their opinion on the veracity and speech patterns of the present Commander-in-Chief. If not, it will be hard to treat their remarks as better informed than, e.g. Palin’s. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/216 "2018-11-28T08:08:34Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > The claim was that Miss O-C “keeps saying hilariously ill-informed things”, so it really shouldn’t be a problem for you to come up with … [Here is one](https://www.newsweek.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-tells-lindsey-graham-visit-african-american-history-1233768) where she just got shredded: AO-C:_Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime. It wasn’t for Jewish families fleeing Germany. It wasn’t for targeted families fleeing Rwanda. It wasn’t for communities fleeing war-torn Syria. And it isn’t for those fleeing violence in Central America._ The response was devastating: Lindsay G:_I recommend she take a tour of the Holocaust Museum in DC. Might help her better understand the differences between the Holocaust and the caravan in Tijuana._ Oh, there _was_ a sort of [follow-up](https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/418487-auschwitz-museum-says-its-important-to-remember-holocaust-did). Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum:_When we look at Auschwitz we see the end of the process. It’s important to remember that the Holocaust actually did not start from gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed from words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence._ So, they put her in her place. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/217 "2018-11-28T08:21:19Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > [Here is one](https://www.newsweek.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-tells-lindsey-graham-visit-african-american-history-1233768) where she just got shredded: > > AO-C:_Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime. It wasn’t for Jewish families fleeing Germany. It wasn’t for targeted families fleeing Rwanda. It wasn’t for communities fleeing war-torn Syria. And it isn’t for those fleeing violence in Central America._ > > The response was devastating: > > Lindsay G:_I recommend she take a tour of the Holocaust Museum in DC. Might help her better understand the differences between the Holocaust and the caravan in Tijuana._ > > Oh, there _was_ a sort of [follow-up](https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/418487-auschwitz-museum-says-its-important-to-remember-holocaust-did). > > Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum:_When we look at Auschwitz we see the end of the process. It’s important to remember that the Holocaust actually did not start from gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed from words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence._ > > So, they put her in her place. Unless I’m missing something here, it looks like Graham got put in _his_ place by the museum. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/218 "2018-11-28T08:22:48Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Unless I’m missing something here, it looks like Graham got put in _his_ place by the museum. Oh shit, did I forget the slash-s? ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/219 "2018-11-28T12:21:32Z")
So she has had some gaffes and isn’t as polished and guarded as most politicians? That’s the source of this obsession? A lot of people say they want politicians that are more authentic and candid, but apparently some people prefer the ersatz version. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906/220 "2018-11-28T13:37:07Z")
> [@Dacien](#): > > Here’s a couple more. > > Ocasio-Cortez is going to help [“flip this seat red”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjeRnyj-2sI) in Kansas City. > > [This clip from 1:28 to 2:00.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT8icjgy3AM) > > “You use the term ‘the occupation of Palestine.’ What do you mean by that?” > > Cortez - “Um… I think what I meant is … like … the settlements that are increasing in some of these areas and places where Palestinians are experiencing difficulty in access to their housing and homes.” > > “Do you think you can expand on that?” > > Cortez - “Yeah… I mean, I think … I’d … also just— I am not the expert on geo-politics on this issue.” If only Trump could manage to keep his mistakes so benign. As Snowboarder Bo informed you, it is actually a sign of intelligence to recognize one’s limitations. She is a neophyte, and can’t be expected to be an instant expert in all things political, but she actually understands that she isn’t an expert in all things, unlike the President. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-conservative-media-obsessed-with-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/824906.md?page=12)