Elizabeth Conley/Reuters
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at Sen. Ted Cruz after the Texas Republican mocked her during his CPAC speech.
- Ocasio-Cortez again criticized Cruz for fleeing his home state during the recent electrical grid collapse.
- The two lawmakers have feuded since the New York Democrat accused Cruz of helping incite the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at Sen. Ted Cruz after the Texas Republican mocked her during a recent speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
The two lawmakers have publicly feuded since the New York Democrat accused Cruz of helping incite the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot by voting against the certification of the 2020 election and feeding the right’s lies about the election results.
Ocasio-Cortez added to the widespread criticism Cruz faced after he fled his home state and flew to Cancun, Mexico with his family during his state’s severe winter storms and electrical grid collapse last month. The congresswoman led fundraising efforts for Texas storm victims, raising $5 million for non-profit organizations, and flew to the state to meet with those affected by the crisis. At least 58 Texans were killed by hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, and other accidents during what may be the most costly disaster in the state’s history.
Cruz flew back to Texas after his trip provoked widespread backlash and his aides published photos of him handing out bottled water to needy constituents.
“I don’t care what Cruz said at CPAC,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Sunday night, “but I do care that it appears Texas was just a layover stop for him between Cancun and Orlando to drop a pack of water into someone’s trunk and abandon his constituents again as they get slammed with $16,000 electrical bills.”
During his CPAC speech last Friday, the senator made light of his Mexican scandal and mocked Ocasio-Cortez's concerns about her personal safety during the Capitol siege. The 31-year-old second-term congresswoman has received an unusual number of death threats and accused Cruz of "trying to get me killed."
"We're gathered at a time where the hard left, where the socialists control the levers of government, where they control the White House, where they control every executive branch, where they control both houses of Congress. Bernie is wearing mittens, and AOC is telling us she was murdered," Cruz said at CPAC.