Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday hit back at her critics who took issue with her dining maskless outdoors in Florida , claiming they ...
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday hit back at her critics who took issue with her dining maskless outdoors in Florida, claiming they were angry with her because they couldn't date her.
The New York congresswoman angered Republicans when the photo of her December 30 lunch in Miami was published, with her opponents noting that the strident supporter of mask mandates was not wearing a face mask.
'Welcome to Florida, AOC!' tweeted the account of the state's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis.
'We hope you're enjoying a taste of freedom here in the Sunshine State thanks to @RonDeSantisFL's leadership.'
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has fled her virus-ravaged state of New York for Miami Beach, Florida, where she was seen raising a class over sushi with her boyfriend, Riley Roberts
Ocasio-Cortez had swapped the New York chill for sunny Florida for a pre-New Year getaway
Ocasio-Cortez hit back, replying that he should take lessons from the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul.
'Hasn't Gov. DeSantis been inexplicably missing for like 2 weeks?
'If he's around, I would be happy to say hello. His social media team seems to have been posting old photos for weeks.
'In the meantime, perhaps I could help with local organizing. Folks are quite receptive here.
'I'd also be happy to share some notes from @GovKathyHochul's work in NY since he seems to be in need of tips!'
The conversation generated a plethora of replies, with former Trump advisor Steve Cortes angered by Ocasio-Cortez 'frolicking in free Florida', while her home state enforced mask mandates.
The New York mask mandate only applies indoors, and people are allowed to remove masks while eating.
Cortes tweeted: '1. If Leftists like AOC actually thought mandates and masking worked, they wouldn't be frolicking in free FL.
'2. Her guy is showing his gross pale male feet in public (not at a pool/beach) with hideous sandals.
'O for 2…'
Ocasio-Cortez replied with scorn, calling Cortes a 'creepy weirdo' for her remarks about her boyfriend's Birkenstock sandals.
'If Republicans are mad they can't date me they can just say that instead of projecting their sexual frustrations onto my boyfriend's feet. Ya creepy weirdos.'
She continued: 'It's starting to get old ignoring the very obvious, strange, and deranged sexual frustrations that underpin the Republican fixation on me, women,& LGBT+ people in general.
'These people clearly need therapy, won't do it, and use politics as their outlet instead. It's really weird.'
Ian Haworth, editor of Daily Wire, tweeted: 'I definitely do not want to date you.'
Ocasio-Cortez replied: 'I'm glad you felt the need to share that with the world. Don't worry, this is a totally normal thought to have and share as an editor of a right-wing website, and totally doesn't prove my point at all.
'I hear if you say it enough times you'll actually start to believe it.'
She concluded with an attack on Haworth's conservative site.
'The fact that these people are so creepy/weird yet are also the ones responsible for shaping the NEWS HEADLINES we all see in media should be really concerning.
'I don't even want to know what knuckle-dragging thoughts these people have all day while covering women in politics.'
Brian Mast, a Republican congressman for Florida, wrote on Twitter: 'Welcome to Florida AOC. Leave your politics in New York and enjoy a taste of freedom in our great state!'
Shawn Farash, who runs the conservative group Long Island Loud Majority, said her visit amounted to an endorsement of DeSantis.
'Hey @AOC tell me you endorse @RonDeSantisFL without telling me you endorse @RonDeSantisFL,' he wrote.
Republican anger was in part retaliation for her own criticism of Ted Cruz, the Republican senator for Texas.
In February, Ocasio-Cortez demanded Cruz resign for making a trip to Cancun with his family while Texas was ravaged by a deadly winter storm.
'If Sen. Cruz had resigned back in January after helping gin up a violent insurrection that killed several people, he could've taken his vacation in peace,' she tweeted at the time.
'Texans should continue to demand his resignation.'
In September 2021, in response to a thread on the storms in New York, she tweeted: 'I know Republicans' idea of 'disaster relief' is flying to Cancun while the power's still out, but unlike that approach I actually give a damn.'
Ocasio-Cortez's trip came as COVID cases exploded again in New York.
Residents have been forced to line up for hours for tests and many are planning to spend New Year's Eve at home, with restaurants closing and amid fears of the Omicron surge.
On Thursday New York smashed its daily COVID case count for the third day in a row, with 76,555 new infections - an increase from 67,000 the day before.
In New York City, more than one in four tests are positive, with a 26.55 percent seven-day average positivity.
Governor Kathy Hochul has also introduced her '2.0 Plan' to fight Omicron by extending her 'vax and mask' mandate until February 1.
There are now 7,919 New Yorkers hospitalized, a 7 percent increase in 24 hours, and 4,000 of those cases were in New York City alone.
A record number of first responders are now call in sick in New York City.
Over 20 percent of the city's police officers and 30 percent of paramedics were out sick on Thursday, city officials told Fox News.
The city has no plans to drop its COVID protocols as incoming New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who will be sworn in on New Year's Eve, announced Thursday his plans to keep in place many of outgoing mayor Bill de Blasio's restrictions, including a vaccination mandate for entering local businesses.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's office for comment.
Travelers coming and going from LaGuardia Airport line up for COVID testing in the parking garage on Thursday
The U.S. has been hit by massive testing shortages that the Biden administration has vowed to fix in the New Year
The U.S. smashed another global COVID infection record on Thursday when 647,067 new cases were reported, with deaths halving to 1,400, as one expert warned of a 'virtual blizzard' of Omicron he says will lead to shutdowns nationwide.
In total, USA Today reports, the United States recorded 2.49 million cases within the past week, outpacing the country's previous record of 1.7 million new cases recorded in the one-week period from January 3 through January 9.
Experts say the number of cases are rising so rapidly due to the spread of the highly-contagious Omicron variant, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says accounts for anywhere from 40 to 70 percent of the new cases in the US.
A UK-based expert says the variant could spread with just a 'whiff of infected breath.'
At the same time, however, the number of daily deaths have halved from 2,800 to 1,400 between Wednesday and Thursday.
The drop comes after multiple studies showed that Omicron was likely to cause up to 80 per cent fewer hospitalizations than Delta, although scientists have cautioned that more data is needed, and say the sheer number of infections caused by the new variant could ultimately cause an additional spike in serious illness and death.
Daily life continues to be upended by COVID and Omicron, with 1,198 flights canceled on New Year's Eve, and another 955 already nixed on Saturday, as airlines grapple with staffing shortages.
JetBlue - which is headquartered in Omicron-epicenter New York City - was the worst-affected airline, canceling 145 flights, equivalent to 14 per cent of its December 31 schedule.
That is a 26 percent from just the day before, when 512,533 new cases were reported
The US broke a world record for average daily COVID cases for the second day in a row with 647,067 reported on Thursday, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of John Hopkins data
Americans are still waiting hours in lines to be tested for COVID-19. Above, a health care workers tests residents in Miami, Florida, at a drive-through COVID testing site on Wednesday
In total, the United States recorded 2.49 million cases within the past week, outpacing the country's previous record of 1.7 million new cases recorded in the one-week period from January 3 through January 9. People are pictured here waiting on line to get a COVID test in Houston, Texas - which has seen a spike in cases recently
Fifteen states reported a record-high number of average daily infections, according to the CDC.
They include Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
Florida also reported a record 77,848 new cases and 90 more deaths to the Centers for Disease Control on Thursday, following a backlog in reporting, according to an analysis of state data from the Miami Herald.
That represents the largest multi-day increase of newly reported cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.
The previous multi-day record was set during the height of the Delta wave this past summer, when 56,036 cases were reported.
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