Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) received backlash Wednesday after sharing photos of her grandmother’s home in Puerto Rico and said Hurricane Maria relief had not arrived because “Trump blocked relief $ for PR.”
“Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID,” she wrote on Twitter.
“This is her home. Hurricane María relief hasn’t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR. People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, & developers are taking them.”
The photos appeared to show a home with ceiling damage:
In response to the post, Florida Republican congressional candidate Lavern Spicer said, “Honey, you drive a Tesla and have two apartments. If your grandmother is living poor that’s because you don’t help her out.”
“I’m surprised that a socialist wouldn’t redistribute that wealth to their grandma. Sad!” she wrote:
Daily Wire columnist Matt Walsh also replied to the representative’s tweet, writing, “Shameful that you live in luxury while allowing your own grandmother to suffer in these squalid conditions”:
“You make nearly $200,000 a year. Why not peel off a few bucks for a family member in need?” another Twitter user replied, adding, “That’s literally what family does for one another.”
“Very sad indeed. Why aren’t you spreading your wealth around and helping her out?” yet another user said:
In a subsequent post, Ocasio-Cortez said, “I want to be clear – while Trump admin had a major role, it wasn’t just them. La Junta, local policies, etc were all on the same page: policies that pushed out local families”:
She later added her abuela was “doing okay”:
In September 2018, Ocasio-Cortez was criticized for wearing an outfit worth $3,500 in a photoshoot and interview with actress Kerry Washington:
Breitbart News reported at the time:
The 28-year-old congressional candidate modeled Gabriela Hearst’s double-breasted blazer with a $1,900 price, $890 wool pants, and $625 Manolo Blahnik pumps in the photo shoot paired with her Interview magazine interview with Washington.
The ensemble came to a grand total of $3,505, and many have criticized Ocasio-Cortez—who posed with construction workers in the photo shoot—for her expensive clothing taste, as she bills herself a champion of the working class.
Following the backlash, she claimed, “The alt-right doesn’t seem to understand the concept of magazine shoots”:
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