New York Congresswoman Alexandria Cortez can never seem to pass up the chance to come across as an apathetic sociopath.
Cortez’s story, while immersed in the kind of privilege she claims shouldn’t exist, was kind of inspiring at one point: A bartender beating a legacy incumbent and becoming a congresswoman? That’s the kind of tale that should be celebrated in America. It’s just a shame what’s she’s actually managed to do since she’s been there. There’s a reason why she has a disproportionate number of fans outside of her congressional district than in it.
But if the living conditions of the people in New York’s 14th district are an indictment of her performance, then the way her family lives is defiantly another indictment of her character.
Ever the click-hungry celebrity, Alex made a spectacle of her grandmother’s living conditions in the storm-torn territory of Puerto Rico. Emphasis was placed on the dilapidated ceiling and roof of the house, which had not been repaired since it was damaged in Hurricane Maria in 2017. Cortez, naturally, placed the blame on Trump, who isn’t even in office anymore and has had no say in the last flood of spending packages that could have been used to fix abuela’s roof.
“It’s not about us,” the congresswoman said, like the start of a bad joke,“but about what’s happening to Puerto Ricans across the island? She had a place to go to and be cared for – what about the thousands of people who don’t?”
Following this lengthy thread, just like a hurricane in September, a wave of criticism washed up on Cortez’s comments. Users, apparently, growing tired of her shtick. Lavern Spencer, Republican candidate for Florida’s 24th congressional district, joined in.
“Honey, you drive a Tesla and have two apartments. If your grandmother is living poor that’s because you don’t help her out. I’m surprised that a socialist wouldn’t redistribute that wealth to their grandma. Sad!”
And while the back-and-forth online certainly isn’t doing abuela or any of the other Puerto Ricans any favors, talks continue regarding statehood for the territory. But considering the sub-par state of the national and world economy at this time (to put it polity) it would need to be a unanimous consensus that a battered island would prove to be more of an asset than a liability before the issue be taken seriously by the average person. And, considering further the current state of political leadership in America – Cortez included – it could prove to be a long and difficult period for Puerto Rico in the years to come.