Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been drawing attention from both sides of the aisle, and her latest eyebrow-raising remarks this week put Alabama in the national spotlight.
When discussing what she called the “immoral” American free market system, Ocasio-Cortez used poverty in parts of the Yellowhammer State as an example. However, she missed the mark when it came to specifics.
“I do think that a system that allows billionaires to exist when there are parts of Alabama where people are still getting ringworm because they don’t have access to public health is wrong,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
She later tweeted that she meant hookworm (as ringworm is a fairly common skin infection that is treated easily). Lowndes County has made national news for its battle with a rare form of hookworm over the past year, but experts have pointed to infrastructure (septic tanks) as the cause, as opposed to “access to public health.”
Alabamians have taken to social media to deride Ocasio-Cortez’s statement, but elected officials are taking issue with it, too.
In a statement to Yellowhammer News, Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-1) said the freshman congresswoman is making a habit of playing loose with the truth in order to advance her agenda.
“The mainstream media seems to give the Left a pass when they say things that are totally misleading in an effort to advance their radical, higher taxes agenda,” Byrne said. “Don’t forget, this is the same person who has said the world will end in twelve years, and now she is falsely attacking Alabama all in an effort to raise taxes and grow the size of government. It’s just sad.”
Ocasio-Cortez has advocated for raising the top marginal tax rate to 70 percent in order to fund a “Green New Deal.”
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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