Representative Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has become a lightning rod for criticism from right-wing media and politicians because she adamantly and articulately opposes their toxic plutocratic agenda and consistently lays out a vision for a more just, more flourishing America.
Recently, she made waves with her comments about the Veterans Affairs’ healthcare system by saying that privatizing it would be a mistake and “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” She’s absolutely correct that privatization could easily lead to an increase in the suffering of veterans as private companies prioritize profit over care, even if there are legitimate problems with the current VA that must be addressed.
The Republican backlash against AOC’s comments was every bit as bad faith as always, with numerous attacks on her intelligence from Fox News and GOP partisan hacks. Conservatives insisted that the VA is actually an absolute mess and that Ocasio-Cortez’s comments reveal her to be clueless. Now, those same people are going to be forced to furiously backpedal since President Trump has tweeted out his agreement with her remarks.
Trump tweeted that Representative Ocasio-Cortez is “correct” but misspelled her name as “Occasio-Cortez” and chose to delete the tweet. He managed to spell it correctly the second time. Of course, since it’s Trump he also couldn’t resist taking credit for himself by insisting that the VA is “doing great” but only because of the Trump administration’s actions.
Ludicrously, he claimed that he passed the Veterans Choice & Accountability Act, but it was actually passed in 2014. Yet again, we see the habitually dishonest Trump taking credit for something that President Obama did.
Trump’s embrace of AOC’s comments is a transparent attempt to deflect attention from his decision to let his Mar-a-Lago cronies run the VA, and could also be seen as a vain attempt to ingratiate himself with some of Ocasio-Cortez’s fans. On both accounts, he has failed.
FWIW, the president misspelled @AOC’s name. pic.twitter.com/DFNWqW66we
— Dave Levinthal (@davelevinthal) April 24, 2019
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is correct, the VA is not broken, it is doing great. But that is only because of the Trump Administration. We got Veterans Choice & Accountability passed. “President Trump deserves a lot of credit.” Dan Caldwell, Concerned Veterans of America
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 24, 2019
Twitter reactions were not exactly kind…
You're claiming credit for the Veterans Choice and Accountability Act of … 2014? https://t.co/xfkSpJ8dRm
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) April 24, 2019
This goes directly against what many of President Trump’s supporters have been saying in the past 48 hours. Including @PeteHegseth who said that @AOC is a “mindless moron.” https://t.co/MLlHyzvKyU
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) 24 April 2019
Fact check: while AOC might be correct, the Veterans Choice Act was passed under Barack Obama. Trump deserves ZERO credit. https://t.co/AjH7d7PLdo
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) April 24, 2019
I wonder if all the Republicans who made fun of @AOC for saying the VA was doing great will make fun of President Trump for saying that the VA is doing great?
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) April 24, 2019