Ocasio-Cortez hits back after Manchin criticism

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) hit back at Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) after he criticized her tenure in the House in the latest spat between the progressive and centrist lawmakers.

“I find it amusing when politicians try to diminish the seriousness of our policy work, movement organizing & grassroots fundraising to ‘she just tweets,’ as though ‘serious’ politics is only done by begging corporate CEOs for money through wax-sealed envelopes delivered by raven,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. 

I find it amusing when politicians try to diminish the seriousness of our policy work, movement organizing & grassroots fundraising to “she just tweets,” as though “serious” politics is only done by begging corporate CEOs for money through wax-sealed envelopes delivered by raven

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 2, 2020

The rebuke comes a day after Manchin belittled her service in the House, a rare elbow from the West Virginian.

“I don’t know the young lady — I really don’t. I never met her. I’m understanding she’s not that active with her bills or in committee. She’s more active on Twitter than anything else,” Manchin told The New York Times.

The feud between Ocasio-Cortez and Manchin goes back nearly a month to when the senator rebuked calls to defund the police by declaring, “Defund, my butt.” Ocasio-Cortez responded with a tweet showing her glaring at the senator when he applauded during President Trump’s second State of the Union address. 

The back-and-forth is a microcosm of the ongoing battles between moderates and progressives within the Democratic Party in the aftermath of a disappointing congressional election cycle.

Democrats are pointing fingers as they try to explain why they did not take the Senate outright on Nov. 3 and lost House members in a cycle when they faced a favorable Senate map and were expected to expand their majority in the lower chamber.

Moderates have said slogans like “defund the police” and “Medicare for All” alienated centrist voters they needed, while progressives said their policies should be credited with energizing the Democratic base.