One of the advantages of being a social-media savvy politician is the ability to respond quickly to your critics when they launch attacks against you. Despite all of his incredibly obvious faults, President Trump cannot be accused of failing to take advantage of his social media strategy of simply lying publicly on Twitter whenever a new scandal erupts, which unfortunately is almost daily.
On the Democratic side, freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) seems to be the most skillful at utilizing social media to devastate right-wing critics who twist facts to attack and undermine her Democratic Socialist agenda — an agenda that would benefit ordinary working people instead of the wealthy oligarchs who currently exercise control of politics through their copious donations to Republican coffers.
The Bronx-born representative provided a perfect example of her skills today as she responded to a Twitter thread that began with this post by Grabien Media founder Tom Elliot.
According to AOC, Congress amended the Constitution to prevent FDR from being re-elected:
"They had to amend the Constitution of the United States to make sure Roosevelt dd not get reelected."
(Reminder, FDR died in office in 1945; the 22nd Amendment came in 1947) pic.twitter.com/DImHj0caVy
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 31, 2019
Elliot’s post looks like a perfect “gotcha” moment for the young Congresswoman, however, the post fails to mention that while the 22nd Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1947, its roots date back to the 1944 election when three-term President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D) faced Republican Thomas Dewey. According to Wikipedia:
“Near the end of the campaign, Thomas Dewey announced his support of a constitutional amendment that would limit future presidents to two terms. According to Dewey, ‘four terms, or sixteen years (a direct reference to the president’s tenure in office four years hence), is the most dangerous threat to our freedom ever proposed.'”
While AOC may have mangled her syntax a bit, there is little doubt that the inspiration for the passage of the already proposed 22nd Amendment was a reaction to Roosevelt’s four victories by the Republican majority Congress once they took office after his death and succession by Harry Truman.
Republican Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) — the daughter of former Vice President and convicted war criminal Dick Cheney — saw Elliot’s post and immediately decided it was time to try to score some political points by compounding the lies.
We knew the Democrats let dead people vote. According to @AOC, they can run for President, too. https://t.co/69VBYIDtGT
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) March 31, 2019
While trying to revive the discredited right-wing allegations of massive voter fraud by Democrats casting ballots on behalf of the deceased — when in actuality the only major voter fraud scandals in recent years have been the absentee ballot fraud committed by the GOP in a North Carolina election that was forced to be done over and the bogus voter fraud committee started and disbanded prematurely by President Trump when they failed to find any credible evidence of the claims — Rep. Cheney mocks Ocasio-Cortez for a claim she never made.
Not content to let the Republican heiress get the last word, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez hit back with an intellectual burn and a set of facts that put Cheney in her place.
Hey Rep. Cheney,
I see from your dead people comment that you get your news from Facebook memes, but the National Constitution Center + Newsweek are just two of many places where you can clarify your misunderstanding of the history of the 22nd Amendment: https://t.co/Je6mHFJ687 https://t.co/np1XtgLpm1
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 1, 2019
Cheney attempted to reply to AOC’s put down with a tweet that felt more like a childish “I’m rubber, you’re glue” retort than a serious attempt to rebut the dynamic New York representative, but without the natural-born talent for social media of Ocasio-Cortez, her rejoinder fell flat.
Hey @AOC, I know you’re busy so I thought this short video would be helpful to introduce you to the basics of the Constitution. If you’re still trying to figure out how a bill becomes a law, they have a great video on that, too. https://t.co/aTBmCpIUqY https://t.co/MIrvtJevBI
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) April 1, 2019
As of press time, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez hadn’t even felt the need to bother replying and extending the Twitter feud. No need to deliver a final blow to a wounded Republican bloviator.
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