Ocasio-Cortez fires back at Fox News for 'Latina thing' segment

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fired back against Laura Ingraham on Wednesday after the Fox News host and a guest mocked the freshman New York Democrat for the way in which she pronounces her name.

On her primetime show Tuesday night, Ingraham asked conservative lawyer Joe diGenova if he had noticed the way Ocasio-Cortez introduces herself with a “put on” accent.

“She does the Latina thing where she does her, you know, ‘Anastasio Ocasio-Cortez,’” diGenova said, using an exaggerated accent and misstating her name.

Ocasio-Cortez responded on Twitter.

“If by ‘the Latina thing,’ she means I actually do the work instead of just talk about it, then yeah, I’m doing ‘the Latina thing,’” she wrote. “Unless of course she’s talking about being multilingual, which we know isn’t a ‘Latina thing.’ It’s a ‘21st century’ thing.”

She followed up with a tweet blasting Ingraham for labeling newly elected congressional Democrats as radicals, and she suggested that the Fox News host was using women of color to stoke fears among viewers.

Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t done.

“Fox News likes to say my name (incorrectly) as ‘Cortez,’ which I can only imagine is bc that sounds more ‘stereotypically’ Hispanic + probably incites more ‘anxiety’ for them,” she continued. “My last name is not ‘Cortez,’ just as theirs isn’t ‘Ingra’ or ‘Carl’ or ‘Hann.’”

She added: “My last name is Ocasio-Cortez. Full stop. That’s my name. No, you can’t say ‘Cortez.’ I’ve never used that in my life. ‘Cortez’ is referring to someone else. Even if they‘re trying to be rude + wrong, my dad’s last name was Ocasio anyway.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Laura Ingraham (Photos: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Laura Ingraham (Photos: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Ocasio-Cortez has become a favorite target for Fox News’ hosts. On Tuesday’s show, Ingraham referred to Ocasio-Cortez as “the It Girl” and “the juice” of the Democratic Party.

There is undoubtedly a buzz surrounding the 29-year-old lawmaker, who is on the cover of next week’s Time magazine.

“Ocasio-Cortez represents one vision of the Democratic Party’s future,” Time’s Charlotte Alter notes in her cover story. “She’s a political phenomenon: part activist, part legislator, arguably the best storyteller in the party since Barack Obama and perhaps the only Democrat right now with the star power to challenge President Donald Trump.”

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