OPINION:
Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis is facing backlash because he referred to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who’s running for Congress as a proud, unapologetic member of the Democratic Socialists of America, as “this girl” at a recent rally in Orange Park in Florida.
This is what worries us? Oh my, the left. How it loves its smoke and mirrors.
Specifically, DeSantis, who’s seeking the governor’s office, said this: “You look at this girl, Ocasio-Cortez, or whatever she is — I mean, she’s in a totally different universe. Basically, socialism wrapped in ignorance.”
And now the left is in an uproar. As if DeSantis called her the b-word or something.
Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle tweeted this in response: “Dismissing a candidate like @Ocasio2018 because of gender or age is simply wrong. Anyone who does so is certainly not fit to be governor.”
Democratic Rep. Grace Meng tweeted this: “This ’girl or whoever she is’ is my future colleague from Queens who will serve with me in Congress where men make up over 80% of the body. And we’re working to elect more women so we don’t have to put up with comments and attitudes like this.”
Ocasio-Cortez herself got in the ring.
“Rep DeSantis,” she wrote on Twitter, “it seems you’re confused as to ’whatever I am.’ I am a Puerto Rican woman. It’s strange you don’t know what that is, given that 75,000 Puerto Ricans have relocated to Florida in the 10 mos since [Hurricane] Maria. But I’m sure these new FL voters appreciate your comments!”
Duck and dodge; weave and wave. Looks like the hard left has found its latest fake civil rights cause.
The real issue here is not DeSantis and his so-what reference to Ocasio-Cortez as “this girl, or whatever she is.” The real issue is that Ocasio-Cortez is a socialist — a flag-waving, bragging, in-your-face, yeah-that’s-right socialist — and she’s running for Congress in a country guided by a Constitution, steeped in capitalistic ways, founded on the notion of God-given rights.
The sign on Capitol Hill should read: No Socialists Allowed.
The fact that she’s able to campaign without being shouted from the stage is a head-hanging moment for America. That’s the real issue here — not the off-hand reference of a campaigning congressman who aptly summarized her out-of-place, anti-American views with a “whatever she is” remark.
It’s not the comments from DeSantis that are off-base. It’s Ocasio-Cortez’s socialism.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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