Two veterans who walked out on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) last week for politicizing a community meeting, disparaging Presid...
Two veterans who walked out on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) last week for politicizing a community meeting, disparaging President Donald Trump in the process, are setting the record straight.
Speaking on "Fox and Friends" Sunday, the veterans hit back after Ocasio-Cortez spokesman Corbin Trent denied they left the meeting.
"The only person that left the meeting while it was underway was someone who had to go pick up their children," Trent told the New York Post.
What did the veterans say?
Army veteran Anthony Vitaliano, 78, and Vietnam War veteran Silvio Mazzella, 74, confirmed they walked out of the meeting despite Trent's claims.
In their interview, Vitaliano recounted what happened during the contentious meeting in which Ocasio-Cortez denounced "American bombs," President Donald Trump, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Vitaliano also hammered Ocasio-Cortez for being noticeably absent from her district while her national profile has exploded.
"It was a prepared agenda for the — let's put in this way, she is our congresswoman from January, we haven't seen her in our area until May 28, Tuesday at 5:30. Everybody else in the United States has seen her except her own district," Vitaliano said.
Mazzella said Ocasio-Cortez's comments reminded him of the negative treatment he received upon coming home after fighting in the Vietnam War, which inspired him to walk out of the meeting.
"Didn't feel good. It actually reminds me when I came home from 'Nam and we had the protesters here," he said. "You know that's not the way to treat people."
Vitaliano explained the straw that broke the camel's back for him came when Ocasio-Cortez blamed Trump for increasing tensions in the Middle East, specifically with Iran, because he withdrew the U.S. from the Obama administration's Iran nuclear deal.
"I said, 'That's it, I gotta get outta there. It's best for me to leave.' And I picked my umbrella up and walked right out," Vitaliano explained.
Vets walk out on AOC
No comments