AOC says she was ‘astonished' when man left sign outside her office in support of both her and Trump
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FOX NEWS - Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said a man left a sign outside her office on Friday that expressed support for both her and President Trump, a concept she said left her feeling “pretty astonished.”
The freshman lawmaker detailed the experience on Twitter, explaining that upon leaving work for the day, she discovered a man and a person she presumed to be his teenage son putting up a handmade sign outside her office.
It read: “Trump supporters for Ocasio-Cortez.”
The pair exchanged introductions and the man told her that “he wanted to show his support,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She was left struggling on how to ask him for an explanation, she said.
“I somehow got it out: ‘With all respect sir, how do you... manage to support both of us at the same time?’” Ocasio-Cortez said she asked. “This is what he said: ‘I’ve been saying for years that climate change is our most important crisis. You’re one of the only ones who‘s been willing to be decisive on it.’”
“Then he said, ‘I like you. I can tell that you are genuine and fighting for us. You’re real and you get it.’ I thanked him and his family from the bottom of my heart,” she continued.
Since entering the political sphere, Ocasio-Cortez has been a champion for the Green New Deal, an economic stimulus concept designed to tackle income inequality and climate change.
Ocasio-Cortez chose to share her experience Friday as a means to spread a message of perseverance, she said, before accusing politicians and lobbyists of thwarting efforts to fix “our climate crisis.”
“All of this is to say don’t let any politician, no matter the party, lecture you about what is ‘possible’ or ‘electable,’” she tweeted. “Don’t ever let a politician imply that working people are ‘less-than’ or ‘uneducated’ - aka that they are the ones in the way of solving the climate crisis.”
She went on to encourage her followers to vote in line with their personal “values.”
“If you don’t understand this man’s sign - or don’t approach it with a desire to - then you do not understand this political moment,” she tweeted. “The same folks who said Trump was impossible in 2016 are the same ones lecturing on what’s ‘electable’ in 2020. Don’t buy it. Vote your values.”
Fox News’ Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.