Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was out and about in her New York home district on Wednesday. Not debating her Republican opponent — even though there was a community forum in Jackson Heights, Queens, where she could have done just that, but only GOP nominee Tina Forte showed up — but instead at a town hall elsewhere in the borough.
Unlike a prior town hall event in her New York City district — which went viral because it was virtually empty — this one was packed. That was the good news.
The bad news was that a goodly portion of the audience was there to confront her, not support her.
According to The National Desk, the so-called listening forum took place at a Boys and Girls Club, although the contents of the event might not be entirely appropriate for youngsters.
WARNING: The following videos contain graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
One clip showed what appears to be a discussion about centers for LGBT individuals and a comment from someone who may or may not have been taking the event seriously. (He definitely wasn’t taking AOC seriously, but his level of civic engagement is, well, questionable.)
“So if you’re gay, you can have a house, but if you’re not gay, you have to live on the street?” the man said.
“So if I don’t have butt sex, I can’t have a place to live. But if I do, I’m good. Is that how it goes?”
“So if I don’t have butt sex, I don’t have a place to live” one protester said to AOC as she spoke about special LGBTQ centers, she responded “Sir your sexual orientation has nothing to do with it”. pic.twitter.com/pwNSYN52QR
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) October 20, 2022
“Sir, your sexual orientation has nothing to do with it,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
The protesters were temporarily able to disrupt the meeting with jeers, drums, and chants of “AOC has got to go!” The two-term congresswoman merely drank water and danced along.
Shouting Protesters Temporarily disrupt AOC Listening Forum Event in Astoria Queens, held on Wednesday evening.
THREAD ? pic.twitter.com/fKJMmde1Sw
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) October 20, 2022
As Protesters chant “AOC has got to go” AOC starts dancing as she drank water, as more people shouted she said “very classy, thank you Sir” pic.twitter.com/rCVr9Y5OTa
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) October 20, 2022
When Ocasio-Cortez tried to engage the protesters, however, that also didn’t go well.
“Ma’am you’re saying, ‘Ask us why,’ y’all have been talking for 20 minutes, OK? We know why. We know why you’re mad, let’s talk about it,” the Democrat said.
“There are only two f***ing genders!” a woman in the audience shouted back, earning both cheers and boos.
Then, for reasons unknown, the lights went out:
At one point the lights shut off and AOC was escorted out of the room. She returned once the lights were back on and could be heard saying “I’m not allowed to be in a room with the lights turned off” pic.twitter.com/YoqQcbSKo8
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) October 20, 2022
Once the lights came back on, the same woman who confronted the congresswoman about gender could be seen in another clip shouting, “I don’t need government, I don’t need big f***ing pharma, I have God and f*** you all!”
“I don’t need government, I don’t need big fkn pharma, I have God and fuck you all ” shouted one of the protesters during AOC Event pic.twitter.com/hm9j7GnwcO
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) October 20, 2022
For what it’s worth, Ocasio-Cortez did leave to the applause of her supporters, although how many of them made up the audience is a matter of debate.
At the end of the event AOC addressed the question about the crime and left to applause from the supporters.
Full video https://t.co/4rnoeEnZIq pic.twitter.com/4xp8hQ8gTv
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) October 20, 2022
And speaking of debates — maybe she would have done better to have appeared at the Jackson Heights community forum to face her long-shot challenger, Tina Forte. Alas.
I showed up to the community forum tonight in Jackson Heights. @AOC was a NO SHOW. #DebateMeAOC pic.twitter.com/ToQjj9JwdM
— Tina Forte for Congress (@TinaForteUSA) October 20, 2022
I’m not sure whether AOC preferred this to another recent town hall in the Bronx in which community interest was so low that most of the small auditorium was almost empty — but what’s clear is the bloom is off the “squad’s” rose, at least this election cycle.
AOC is so popular here in the Bronx! ??? pic.twitter.com/IjCZ37GxOY
— Tina Forte for Congress (@TinaForteUSA) October 13, 2022
Now, I won’t go on record as defending the behavior of the crowd. Instead, I’ll leave that to AOC herself, who tweeted this about two years ago.
“The thing that critics of activists don’t get is that they tried playing the ‘polite language’ policy game and all it did was make them easier to ignore,” she tweeted in December 2020. “It wasn’t until they made folks uncomfortable that there was traction to do ANYTHING even if it wasn’t their full demands.”
“The whole point of protesting is to make ppl uncomfortable. Activists take that discomfort w/ the status quo & advocate for concrete policy changes. Popular support often starts small & grows. To folks who complain protest demands make others uncomfortable… that’s the point.”
The whole point of protesting is to make ppl uncomfortable.
Activists take that discomfort w/ the status quo & advocate for concrete policy changes. Popular support often starts small & grows.
To folks who complain protest demands make others uncomfortable… that’s the point.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 2, 2020
This was after months of “fiery but mostly peaceful protests” — but those were by her own peeps.
From the looks of things, she seems a bit more exasperated when people don’t play the “polite language” policy game with her and induce discomfort. Wonder why.
