Ocasio-Cortez pushes back on McConnell’s claim of ‘modern-day McCarthyism’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) blasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday for comparing attacks against him to “modern-day McCarthyism.”

“McCarthyism is the practice of baselessly accusing political opponents of being communists as unjust grounds for targeting & harassment,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “You are blocking action to protect US elections despite official DoJ pleas. That doesn’t make you a communist. It just makes you a bad leader.” 

McCarthyism is the practice of baselessly accusing political opponents of being communists as unjust grounds for targeting & harassment.

You are blocking action to protect US elections despite official DoJ pleas. That doesn’t make you a communist. It just makes you a bad leader. https://t.co/qLqR2vtOfI

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 30, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez’s comments come after McConnell blocked attempts by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to pass election security bills last week, despite former special counsel Robert Mueller’s warning that foreign interference was likely to take place in the 2020 elections.{mosads}

McConnell, who argued that Democrats were trying to give themselves a “political benefit” with the bills,  quickly faced widespread backlash for his objections, prompting him to say his critics — specifically pointing out The Washington Post and MSNBC — were using “unhinged smears.”

“Modern-day McCarthyism is poison for American democracy,” McConnell tweeted Monday. “It is shameful to imply that policy disagreements make the other side unpatriotic. The people who push such unhinged smears are doing Putin’s destabilizing work for him.”

Modern-day McCarthyism is poison for American democracy. It is shameful to imply that policy disagreements make the other side unpatriotic. The people who push such unhinged smears are doing Putin’s destabilizing work for him.

— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) July 29, 2019 

“I was called unpatriotic, un-American and essentially treasonous by a couple of left-wing pundits on the basis of bold-faced lies. I was accused of aiding and abetting the very man I’ve singled out as an adversary and opposed for nearly 20 years, Vladimir Putin,” McConnell said during a fiery speech from the Senate floor.