Firebrand socialist Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York made a bizarre accusation against Republicans during the first day of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
Ocasio-Cortez accused Republicans of religious hypocrisy when she made the claim from her social media account on Monday.
“Sick and tired of Republicans who co-opt faith as an excuse to advance bigotry and barbarism,” tweeted Ocasio-Cortez.
Sick and tired of Republicans who co-opt faith as an excuse to advance bigotry and barbarism.
Fact is, if today Ch… https://t.co/kBgessX03M
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)1602522444.0
“Fact is, if today Christ himself came to the floor of Congress and repeated his teachings, many would malign him as a radical and eject him from the chamber,” she claimed without evidence.
She added a video from a liberal news outlet of her comments excoriating Republicans during a House Oversight Hearing in February on religious freedom.
“Sometimes, especially this body, I feel as though if Christ himself walked through these doors and said what he said thousands of years ago, that we should love our neighbor and our enemy, that we should welcome the stranger, fight for the least of us,” she said in the video, “he would be maligned as a radical and rejected from these doors.”
‘Sharia law would be trending right now’
Ocasio-Cortez went on to retweet another rhetorical attack on religious conservatives from her colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a Muslim member of Congress.
“Let’s be clear about this: if a Muslim woman was nominated to SCOTUS you would see Republicans lose their mind about her religious background,” Omar tweeted.
Let’s be clear about this: if a Muslim woman was nominated to SCOTUS you would see Republicans lose their mind abou… https://t.co/GXC71WS7BT
— Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan Omar)1602520305.0
“‘Sharia law’ would be trending right now,” she added without evidence. “Miss me with the pearl-clutching and all this righteous talk about religious freedom.”
Republicans have defended the Supreme Court nominee from what they say are bigoted attacks from Democrats criticizing Barrett for her deep Catholic faith. Democrats have countered by accusing them of trying to advocate for far-right policies under the cloak of religious freedom.
In her opening statement to the Senate Judicial Committee on Monday, Barrett said that she would continue to consider arguments based on their merits and on what the law says, not on her own personal preference of what the laws should be.
Here’s the video of Barrett’s opening statement:
Amy Coney Barrett delivers opening statement | FULL
www.youtube.com