You got know when to hold ’em, and know when to fold ’em, the late Kenny Rogers sang.
In a bit of political poker, when conservative commentator Matt Walsh called their bluff, the family of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez folded.
The duel began last week when the brash New York Democrat lashed out at former President Donald Trump’s administration for wasting federal relief in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017.
“Just over a week ago, my abuela (grandmother) fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her – my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID,” AOC tweeted on June 2 along with a couple of photos that supposedly showed the warped ceiling of her grandmother’s home falling in some spots.
“This is her home. Hurricane María relief hasn’t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR. People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, & developers are taking them.”
Continuing her thread, AOC added, “We immediately got to work reaching out to community advocates and leaders and following the money. What’s happening to Puerto Ricans is systemic. Much of it can be traced to La Junta, aka the Wall Street-connected fiscal control board that the US gave power to over the island.”
“In the aftermath of María,” she followed, “the Trump admin oversaw two key items: handing millions in public $ to unqualified donor pals (ex Whitefish). The other was to impose extremely difficult eligibility rules for Puerto Ricans, which allowed mass rejections of recovery fund applications.”
AOC did acknowledge that the Trump administration played a “major” role in the seeming fiasco, but wasn’t the only player to apparently dismiss the beleaguered people of the island.
“And for the record – my Abuela is doing okay. It’s not about us, but about what’s happening to Puerto Rican’s (sic) across the island. She had a place to go to and be cared for – what about the thousands of people who don’t?,” AOC concluded.
Critics on the right quickly asked why AOC< who makes $174,000 a year while serving in Congress didn’t do more personally to assist her family.
Walsh, of the Daily Wire, was among them, tweeting in reply that it was “shameful” that AOC resides in luxury while her grandmother existed in “squalid conditions.”
Two days later. Walsh asked AOC to send him a direct message to get her grandmother’s information because he had started a GoFundMe account to raise funds for her.
Within a day Walsh’s push had raised slightly more than $104,000.
But on Saturday, he reported that, according to GoFundMe, “someone” in the grandmother’s family had said she was going to refuse the money.
On the website, Walsh wrote that was the case, “even though AOC previously claimed that her grandma was in dire straits (and it was Trump’s fault).”
“She seems to think that it is worth $104,153 of her Abuela’s money to express that [she] doesn’t want money from the likes of us,” Walsh added.
“I’m grateful for the outpouring of support for AOC’s abuela, even if AOC isn’t,” Walsh also said. “But questions do remain: Why didn’t AOC help her own abuela for nearly four years? Why did she turn down our help? Does AOC only want government help?”
“On my end, I’ll continue fighting to make the world a better place, one abuelita at a time,” he noted.
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Abuela is probably as fake as her border fence breakdown.
All republicans are traitors.
Maybe she is assumed it’s blood money from her ignorant, stealing grand daughter. Maybe she is embarrassed that her own blood couldn’t step in until she blamed Trump administartion for everything. You know I have families in PR and they are surviving as best as possible like everyone else. No go funds set up. Families helping families. Why did she wait to see her grana? She everywhere in the USA and not go to Her family? Grandma? Why no publicity available to be spot lighted!
She too busy make nes green deals and blaming detention center abuse which is not happening. Not protecting the closing border. She has priory in wrong place. Fily first always!!! political second. Families will always be there always!!! Political comes and goes like you change clothes.
Aoc remember that!!! You can raiseoney for your party but never helped your grandma??