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Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged in a recent interview that the perception that she is out of touch with her constituents is “always a concern.”
“It’s always a concern that that’s a perception,” the New York Democrat told the Associated Press while discussing the possibility that her celebrity status could come across to voters as being out of touch with their concerns.
“I’ve never had any control over the fact that that kind of phenomenon started the moment I was elected,” she continued. “If anything, that’s why it’s really important for me to continue to be here in the community.”
Ocasio-Cortez is followed by over 13 million people on Twitter alone and her posts routinely go viral on social media making her one of the most well-known Democrats on the internet.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is seen during the congressional testimony of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (Aurora Samperio/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
However, one Democratic strategist told Associated Press that Ocasio–Cortez’s internet fame doesn’t necessarily translate to popularity offline.
“Outside of the very online far-left, she’s not popular,” Jon Reinish, a Democratic political strategist in New York, said. “She is considerably to the left of the vast majority of New York voters.”
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., talks with a reporter as she walks down the House steps (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Ocasio-Cortez’s internet popularity has translated to real-life with some voters including a man who said at a town hall in March that he doesn’t live in the congresswoman’s district, which covers parts of The Bronx and Queens, but says he views her as a “regular person.”
“I knew she was big,” 21-year-old Daron Jones said. “It inspires me how she just is a regular person. She’s just here trying to help the community.”
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks with reporters, Thursday, June 17, 2021, as she arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
The New York congresswoman was involved in a highly-publicized social media spat this week after re-sharing a video to her millions of followers from political satirist Alex Stein showing him complimenting her looks and referring to her as his “favorite big booty Latina” as she walked up the steps of the Capitol.
Ocasio-Cortez posted on social media that the comments were “racist” and “sexist” while adding that it was a “bummer to work in an institution that openly allowed this.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s viral response drew immediate criticism from social media users who pointed out a past tweet where she seemingly dismissed concerns about the safety of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
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“Poor guy,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response to a report that pro-choice protesters had disrupted Kavanaugh’s dinner at Washington, D.C. restaurant. “He left before his soufflé because he decided half the country should risk death if they have an ectopic pregnancy within the wrong state lines. It’s all very unfair to him. The least they could do is let him eat cake.”
The congresswoman’s tweet came less than a month after an alleged attempted assassination attempt on Kavanaugh’s life in response to leaked draft opinion foreshadowing the eventual reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Real Clear Investigations senior writer Mark Hemingway was one of many on social media who blasted Ocasio-Cortez’s new tone, tweeting, “Four days ago she was defending protesters chasing Supreme Court justices out of a private establishment. Today she’s suggesting that they go after a guy who said crude things about her on the steps of a public building. She should probably pick a consistent position here.”
