Politicians are meant to be criticized. They are public servants who campaigned to work for us and to pass legislation that benefits us as citizens. If we do not publicly agree or disagree with them, how will they know what their constituents want?
Furthermore, politicians are not meant to be idolized like celebrities. I have seen a lot of this behavior lately from both sides, particularly in the way supporters of former President Donald Trump wear his merchandise and decorate their homes with his flags as if he is their idol or God — someone who, in their eyes, can do no wrong.
While some elected officials get too much love, others receive threats and abuse online, even from their political opponents, who are meant to be a higher standard than the average citizen. This goes beyond mere criticizing.
There have been instances of threats, lies and unnecessary attacks on certain elected officials within the Democratic Party. Sometimes it is an attack on their views or policies, but most of the time it seems to be rooted in sexism or racism.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has been gaslighted and verbally abused since she spoke out about the Capitol insurrection that occurred Jan. 6. Ocasio-Cortez took to social media last week to explain what she personally endured that day, as well as to open up about her trauma as a survivor of sexual assault.
Everything she said in her livestream was perfectly valid. Of course she was traumatized from armed terrorists storming her place of work with the intent to harm.
Furthermore, Ocasio-Cortez’s openness about her sexual assault is something to be admired. Reliving those experiences is a very difficult thing to do, especially reliving them to a social media audience of millions.
The Grand Old Party, however, took this as their chance to attack her for speaking out.
Many prominent Republicans, including Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson, have mocked her response to the insurrection, claiming she was overreacting to a situation in which she was in no danger. But five people died that day, and many Congress members were forced to take shelter in their offices for hours as people broke into and trashed the Capitol.
Some have even attempted to discredit her story completely by accusing her of lying about her experience Jan. 6. There have been claims AOC was nowhere near any of the violence or that she did not actually have to hide in her office.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., even wrote she was two doors down from Ocasio-Cortez and they were never in any danger.
In reality, Ocasio-Cortez’s story has checked out to be true.
Ocasio-Cortez hid in the office of Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., for five hours with plenty of reason to fear for her life. Even Mace was afraid enough to barricade herself in her office, so she too must have felt unsafe.
No one knew what was going on — just that intruders had violently entered the building, armed and angry. Regardless of whether or not she was in the exact same hallway as the attack, she was in just as much danger as everyone else in the Capitol dome.
One of the rioters had even tweeted about assassinating her, which is even more terrifying. Comments such as this are not uncommon on social media, but this time, actions seemed to make the written threat more feasible.
From what I have seen on Twitter, Ocasio-Cortez gets some of the worst and most vile hate comments out there. This time, it was for speaking the truth and opening up about traumatizing moments she has experienced. No one, regardless of political views, should be gaslighted and attacked over their trauma.
These attacks are based on hatred. Republicans target her because she is a young, outspoken woman of color. The people who repeatedly try to discredit her do not do the same to men with her political views or in her same position. Oftentimes, people talk down to her as if she is somehow unqualified for her role, but the way they patronize her shows how truly fearful they are of her.
They know she is a smart, powerful woman, and that scares them. So, they resort to baseless attacks on her character rather than her politics. It is disgusting to watch.
AOC serves as a role model, showing us how to stand up for what we believe in and not let sad and pathetic bullies bring us down.
She is a highly visible target and, yes, a womañ, and since many of these misfits do not see women as being equal, akin to Moslem arch prejudice, they find her a soft target,just as they do with Janet Pelosi. Alexandria should not back down, but she also must be very careful and protected. Trump sets the standard for their misogyny. Lock them up.
I love AOC!