Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York continues to raise the bar with regard to hyperbolic and absurd statements.
Following the Jan. 6 Capitol incursion, in which the congresswoman was never in any apparent danger, she has disclosed she is in therapy. Ocasio-Cortez also compared the experiences of lawmakers on that day to those of troops who have fought in actual combat.
During an interview published last week with Latino USA, the New York Democrat spoke extensively about the riot that briefly suspended now-President Joe Biden’s Electoral College certification. That riot was so emotionally scarring, according to AOC, that lawmakers, such as herself, might as well have “served in war” after the legislative process was briefly disrupted.
“It’s politically sensitive. No one wants to discuss, no one wants to say, ‘oh, boo-hoo,’ but there’s members of Congress that, served in war,” she said, before describing how she worried about how safe Capitol employees, such as food service workers, were during the incursion.
She then talked about the aftermath of the violence on herself.
“After the 6th, I took some time and it was really [Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts], when I spoke to her what happened to me, like the day of, because I ran to her office and she was like, ‘you need to recognize trauma,’” Ocasio-Cortez told the outlet.
How bad was that “trauma?” So severe that the second-term Democratic House member said she’s in therapy to cope with the experience.
“Oh yeah, I’m doing therapy but also I’ve just slowed down,” she said. “I think the Trump administration had a lot of us, especially Latino communities, in a very reactive mode. And so, I’ve been putting myself in a more practice space.”
AOC in fact compared her perception of the Capitol incursion to the death of her father.
“That happened at a young age and I socked it away. I had to live with that for years.”
Ocasio-Cortez also said during the interview with Latino USA that the traumatizing event led her to go camping so she could feel “control.”
“I was freezing, but I just felt like I needed to be away from all these people and all of this, like, you know, busyness,” she said.
“It’s been so therapeutic… I feel like it’s been one of the most helpful things for me in resetting than almost anything else that I’ve done.”
What an insult to combat veterans everywhere. Ironically, AOC wasn’t even in the Capitol building during the riot which she claimed has left her traumatized. The lawmaker was actually in the nearby Cannon building.
In a February fact-check in which The Associated Press attempted to prop up AOC’s embellishing the event, the wire service noted the following:
“In an Instagram Live video about the riots, she explained that she was in her office in a neighboring building on the Capitol complex, where she experienced a frightening encounter with a Capitol police officer who she said didn’t announce himself.”
The AP added: “Ocasio-Cortez’s office is across the street from the main Capitol building, in the Cannon building, which AP reporters on the scene confirmed was evacuated during the riots.”
“The Cannon building is also connected to the Capitol building by a series of tunnels, which allow members of Congress to travel between buildings underground,” the AP added.
You’d think from hearing AOC speak about Jan. 6 that she was wielding an office chair and fending off MAGA raiders. In fact, her only notable tense interaction with anyone, as far as she has disclosed, was with a cop who knocked on a door to check on her in a separate building. That’s not exactly a harrowing tale of survival.
AOC almost certainly belongs in therapy, but it’s difficult to believe her claims that that treatment is rooted in the events of Jan. 6.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.