Last Updated on September 23, 2021
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) broke down crying on the floor of the United States House of Representatives this afternoon after the House passed legislation to give another $1 billion to Israel for the purpose of restoring its Iron Dome missile interception system that was used to deflect Palestinian missiles earlier this year.
Ocasio-Cortez and her caucus of Israel skeptics had previously kept the funding out of another bill, and the achievement was celebrated by many as a victory for Palestine and those skeptical of how much money the Jewish state receives from the United States. However, it was immediately predicted that the funding would be restored through another bill, as was seen today. Ocasio-Cortez initially voted against passing the funding, only to change her vote to “Present” at the last minute. After the bill was passed, she began crying and needed to be comforted.
NOW – Tears on the House floor: AOC appears to be crying as the House passed a $1 billion funding for Israel's Iron Dome. She voted no, then switched her vote to present last minute.pic.twitter.com/jjq3kw7R4v
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) September 23, 2021
Leftist journalist Jake Shermon wrote that there was a “biggle huddle around” Ocasio-Cortez on the House floor with Reps. “Jayapal, Barbara Lee, Dingell, and Bush” providing comfort to a distraught Ocasio-Cortez. According to Sherman, she “seems distraught” and was seen “in the middle of the House floor wiping away tears, crying into her colleagues [sic] shoulders.”
AOC seems distraught. She is in the middle of the house floor wiping away tears, crying into her colleagues shoulders. https://t.co/ami3Cj44EP
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) September 23, 2021
Despite her outpouring of emotion, she is still being called an anti-Semite and, simultaneously, a supporter of the “genocide” of Palestinians by conservative and leftist detractors on social media.
One conservative rhetorically asked if her “present” vote is “supposed to shield her from criticism if she runs for Congress? To be clear, if you don’t vote to give defensive weapons to Israel, you are an anti semite. Her failure to vote yes will be remembered.” Another added, “Why does @AOC hate Israel, other than being an anti-Semite?”
Why does @AOC hate Israel, other than being an anti-Semite? https://t.co/HuRSaoPjdJ
— Matthew Kolken (@mkolken) September 23, 2021
On the left, a “Marxist-Leninist” Twitter user mocked Ocasio-Cortez for “voting present after shaking her fist on Twitter.” Another, sharing a meme of Ocasio-Cortez’s ruthlessly mocked “Tax The Rich” dress edited to share a message about her vote, wrote that “AOC” is “like any other American politician” who is controlled “by our imperial politics and capitalism”. The Twitter user added that “twitter lefties” should not be “surprised and shocked” because Ocasio-Cortez has always been part of the two party system.
AOC, like any other elected american politician, is obviously overdetermined by our imperial politics and capitalism generally. why are twitter lefties then so *surprised* and shocked into vociferous anger when she behaves in the sort of way they expect socdems to? https://t.co/ZX1odSu48F
— K. Nose Guard (@totallyfeckless) September 23, 2021
