Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Compares Ben Shapiro's Bad-Faith Debate Offer to Catcalling
A Twitter feud between conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ignited Thursday night when Shapiro posted a video inviting Ocasio-Cortez to a live debate on the Ben Shapiro Show, a fancy name for his Soundcloud podcast.
Hey, @Ocasio2018, what do you say? pic.twitter.com/lKDtmMc8Us
- Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 8, 2018
The video-which offers a $10K donation to Ocasio-Cortez's campaign (or the charity of her choice, as he later offered) in exchange for her participation-comes one day after Ocasio's highly criticized appearance on CNN Wednesday night, where she stumbled on her words while answering a question about Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. In response to the slip up, Shapiro wrote a tweet comparing Ocasio's CNN appearance to Miss Teen South Carolina's infamous response to an education-related question in 2007.
Initially, Ocasio-Cortez ignored the debate offer. But when Ryan Saavedra, a reporter from The Daily Wire (where Shapiro is editor-in-chief) tweeted that Ocasio-Cortez was refusing to respond, she got involved, comparing the $10K offer to catcalling.
Just like catcalling, I don’t owe a response to unsolicited requests from men with bad intentions.
And also like catcalling, for some reason they feel entitled to one. pic.twitter.com/rsD17Oq9qe- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) August 10, 2018
"Just like catcalling, I don’t owe a response to unsolicited requests from men with bad intentions," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter, likely citing Shaprio's criticism of her appearance on CNN and sparking a massive Twitter debate.
"Hey, girl -- want to have a public one-hour discussion on the intricacies of trade policy, deficit spending, and the value of the profit motive? I'll even donate a bunch of money to charity or your campaign to make it happen." -- Construction worker in Queens, apparently
- Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 10, 2018
"Hey, girl -- want to have a public one-hour discussion on the intricacies of trade policy, deficit spending, and the value of the profit motive? I'll even donate a bunch of money to charity or your campaign to make it happen." -- Construction worker in Queens, apparently," Shapiro wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, Saavedra retweeted a statement from Red White and F You host Mindy Robinson, which attacked Ocasio-Cortez's physical appearance.
....but you did just respond. I also highly doubt anyone would catcall you, unless like maybe they were really into vacant conversations and crazy eyes. https://t.co/WQnzyXXDkf
- Mindy Robinson 🇺🇸 (@iheartmindy) August 10, 2018
Twitter, naturally, is divided. Some users characterize Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's catcalling metaphor as one for the ages, while others say the comparison is groundless.
Is she obligated to publicly debate every grandstanding conservative who flashes a little cash? Or just Ben Shapiro?
- Maer Roshan (@MaerRoshan) August 10, 2018
Footage of @benshapiro catcalling, Circa 2018, colorized pic.twitter.com/ArUnrohilZ
- Benny (@bennyjohnson) August 10, 2018
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