Florida Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), the first Green Beret to serve in Congress, set the record straight after far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) concluded that members of Congress effectively “served in war” due to their scare during the January 6 Capitol riot.
The Florida Republican and combat-decorated veteran addressed Ocasio-Cortez’s comparison, deeming it both “sad and ignorant” and adding a dose of reality to her “false” equivalency by pointing out the New York Democrat “hasn’t lost fellow soldiers on the battlefield or seen friends permanently disfigured by Taliban attacks.”
“January 6 was a terrible day for sure and those involved will be brought to justice but this is a sad and ignorant comparison to make…and a disservice to those who actually served,” Waltz said Tuesday.
“AOC doesn’t know what it’s like to come under attack by machine gun fire, mortars or RPGs. She hasn’t seen the horror of roadside IED explosions on bystanders & children,” he continued.
“She hasn’t lost fellow soldiers on the battlefield or seen friends permanently disfigured by Taliban attacks,” Waltz added.
“Don’t use false equivalencies to make a point. Especially as it relates to war,” he concluded:
Waltz served across the globe as a “decorated Special Forces officer with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa” and has been awarded four Bronze Stars and two with valor.
Ocasio-Cortez made the war comparison during an appearance on Latino USA last week, revealing she is in therapy.
“After the 6th, I took some time and it was really Ayanna Pressley when I explained to her what happened to me, like the day of, because I ran to her office and she was like, ‘you need to recognize trauma,’” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“And I feel like I learned this the hard way after my father had passed away when I was a teenager … That happened at a young age and I locked it away. You have to live with it for years,” she continued, adding, “I’m doing therapy but also I’ve just slowed down.”