A day after MTP Daily host Chuck Todd explicitly asked her about embattled Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) claimed on Friday afternoon that she hasn’t “heard anything” about the sexual assault allegation against Fairfax.
When asked on Friday if Dr. Vanessa Tyson, the Scripps College (CA) professor who accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, should be believed, Ocasio-Cortez replied: “I haven’t looked at all into the situation.”
“I said I… look forward to looking into the scenario, but I haven’t heard anything about it quite yet,” Ocasio-Cortez, the supposedly “authentic” freshman lawmaker, added.
But on Thursday’s MTP Daily on MSNBC, Todd, after Ocasio-Cortez said Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) should resign over his blackface controversy, asked her: “What about a Justin Fairfax.”
The scatterbrained lawmaker dodged the question, rambling about the importance of “how you model behavior, how you model behavior as evolution in our nation’s consciousness. And if you don’t show that, then there’s no room to lead. To lead.”
Todd, again showing that he either favors politicians whose beliefs align with his left-leaning politics or is a terrible interviewer, completely let Ocasio-Cortez off the hook and went on to the next question.
Ocasio-Cortez has been out front taking on Republicans accused of sexual assault. She rallied activists against Brett Kavanaugh and even invited Ana Maria Archila–the left-wing activist who confronted then-Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in the Senate elevator during Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing–to be her guest for the State of the Union address. Archila’s revelation that she was sexually assaulted shook Flake, who ultimately forced Kavanaugh’s Senate floor vote to be delayed for a week.
Tyson, the California professor, said she came forward because Fairfax tried to smear her name “in service to his political ambitions.”
“I’m compelled to make clear what happened. I very much wish to resume my life as an academic and professor,” Tyson said in her statement. “I do not want to get further embroiled in this highly charged political environment.”
Tyson then described the alleged sexual assault:
What began as consensual kissing quickly turned into a sexual assault. Mr. Fairfax put his hand behind my neck and forcefully pushed my head towards his crotch. Only then did I realize that he had unbuckled his belt, unzipped his pants, and taken out his penis. He then forced his penis into my mouth. Utterly shocked and terrified, I tried to move my head away, but could not because his hand was holding down my neck and he was much stronger than me. As I cried and gagged, Mr. Fairfax forced me to perform oral sex on him. I cannot believe, given my obvious distress, that Mr. Fairfax thought this forced sexual act was consensual. To be very clear, I did not want to engage in oral sex with Mr. Fairfax and I never gave any form of consent. Quite the opposite. I consciously avoided Mr. Fairfax for the remainder of the Convention and I never spoke to him again.
On Friday, another woman–Meredith Watson–accused Fairfax of raping her while they were students at Duke.
Watson’s lawyers said she was “reluctantly coming forward out of a strong sense of civic duty” because she “was upset to learn that Mr. Fairfax raped at least one other woman after he attacked her.”
Watson, through her attorneys, said she hopes Fairfax “will resign from public office.”
“Mr. Fairfax’s attack was premeditated and aggressive,” the statement read. “The two were friends but never dated or had any romantic relationship.”
Watson’s attorneys also noted that she does not want fame or financial damages.
“She has no interest in becoming a media personality or reliving the trauma that has greatly affected her life,” the statement continued. “Similarly, she is not seeking any financial damages.”
At an anti-Kavanaugh rally last year, Ocasio-Cortez said sexual assault is “about the abuse of power” and said it is “one of the most serious, serious allegations anyone who cares to be a public servant can be accused of.”
“Sexual assault is not a crime of passion. It is about the abuse of power,” Ocasio-Cortez angrily said at an October rally against sexual assault that was used to mobilize activists against Kavanaugh. “And that is precisely why it is one of the most serious, serious allegations anyone who cares to be a public servant can be accused of. Sexual assault is about the abuse of power. It is always women who are marginalized. It is the young. It is the interns. It is the immigrant. It is the trans. They are always most at risk, because society listens to them the least. And that is why a man believes that an elite education, a high income, and his rich friends can get away with sexual assaults.”
At the same rally, Ocasio-Cortez also had an angry message for politicians who aid, abet, or cover up sexual assaults.
“If you are going to continue your career aiding, abetting, covering and being complicit in sexual assault, we will end your career by electing survivors to office,” the Democratic-Socialist declared.
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