Narjas Zatat
Mar 28, 2019
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has taken on congress, big pharma and isn’t one to shy away from holding Donald Trump to account.
The Brooklyn-born congresswoman is a trailblazer who became the youngest woman to be elected to office, and she hasn’t been idle.
The Democrat most recently drew praise for her smack down speech after the Senate blocked a motion to take up the Green New Deal, the progressive climate change plan spearheaded by Democrats.
This isn’t the first time she’s taken them – and her critics – back to school.
Here are best speeches and most savage comebacks:
1. When she made history as the youngest woman ever to have been elected to office alongside a diverse group of congresswomen
2. Her most recent speech about climate change
“This is not an elitist issue, this is a quality of life issue,” she told the Senate, after they voted down her New Green Deal 57-0.
You want to tell people that their concern and their desire for clean air and clean water is elitist, tell that to the kids in the South Bronx which is suffering from the highest rates of childhood asthma in the country
Tell that to the families in Flint, whose kids have their blood ascending in lead levels
Their brains are damaged for the rest of their lives. Call them elitist.
You’re telling those kids that they are trying to get on a plane to Davos? People are dying!
3. Her speech during the Women's March
Justice is about making sure that being polite is not the same thing as being quiet. In fact, often times, the most righteous thing you can do is shake the table.
4. That time she took on Big Pharma like a boss
5. When she systematically destroyed America's campaign funding system by playing a 'lightning round' game during a hearing
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez set her sights on the way people are elected to congress and dismantled the entire system – especially the way campaign financing works.
The Democrat congresswoman spoke to government officials about the seemingly symbiotic relationship between campaign financers, lobbying and the lack of limits and controls impressed upon elected members when it comes to drawing up legislation.
It’s already super legal, as we’ve seen, for me to be a pretty bad guy so it’s even easier for the president of the United States to be one.
6. When she talked about moderate 'meh' policies
7. When she questioned Michael Cohen and opened up multiple new lines of inquiry
In under five minutes, AOC questioned Cohen on a “treasure trove” of documents containing information on people who have information against the president.
8. When she slammed funding to the US Border Agency
9. When she refused to be shamed for her past working in a bar
10. And finally, for reiterating just what politicians were here for
Queen.
More: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tackles climate change inaction with her most powerful speech yet
More: Conservatives are freaking out because Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is paying her staff a ‘living wage’
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