Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images; J. Scott Applewhite, File/Associated Press
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared to criticize Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in a tweet on Saturday.
- The tweet came after a report suggested Sinema wanted to be a "maverick" like Sen. John McCain.
- Ocasio-Cortez said there "isn't anything maverick" about protecting the rich over working families.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared to take a shot at fellow Democratic lawmaker Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in a tweet on Saturday as progressives and moderates struggle to agree on key pieces of legislation.
"There really isn't anything maverick, innovative, or renegade about being a politician that works with corporate lobbyists to protect the rich, short-shrift working families, and preserve the status quo," Ocasio-Cortez wrote, adding its one of the "most conventional ways to navigate politics."
She didn't mention the Arizona senator by name, but the tweet was posted hours after a report suggested Sinema wanted to be remembered as a "maverick," like the late Arizona Sen. John McCain.
"I think she definitely would like for her legacy to be 'the maverick' like him," Grant Woods, a former Arizona attorney general, told Time magazine. "He was instinctively drawn to doing the opposite of what he was told and what people expected. She's definitely attracted to that image."
-Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 2, 2021
Many of the replies to Ocasio-Cortez's tweet directly named or mocked Sinema. Others were retweeting it and directly tagging Sinema's account.
Representatives for Sinema did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Sinema has refused to support President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion "Build Back Better" social spending bill, angering progressives and sparking confusion over her stance. The bill would increase taxes on the rich and corporations, expand Medicare and Medicaid, lower prescription drug prices, improve access to childcare, and more.
The bill also needs the support of every Democrat in the Senate, which is split 50-50.
Sinema drew more criticism after The New York Times reported she was hosting a political fundraiser for business lobbying groups that oppose much of the bill.
Meanwhile, House progressives refused to support Biden's $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill this week after Speaker Nancy Pelosi decoupled it from the larger social-spending plan. Pelosi is still working to shore up support for the bill and said she expects the House to vote on it before the end of the month.