Fox News Taunts AOC for Sexual Harassment Complaint: Hey, It’s Free Speech
Fox News hosts accused Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) of hypocrisy on Friday for complaining about a far-right troll sexually harassing her. The congresswoman engaged in a double standard because she supports abortion-rights protests against Supreme Court justices.
In attempting a gotcha moment with AOC, the Fox personalities downplayed the cat-calling that she was subjected to this week, describing it as merely “free speech” and protesting “with humor.”
Ocasio-Cortez shared a video on Wednesday of right-wing provocateur Alex Stein making derogatory comments about her on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Stein has recently made a name for himself in conservative circles thanks to his trollish behavior, joining with other extremists to accost “RINO” congressmen and attack drag events. In fact, his shameless antics have impressed Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who has repeatedly hosted Stein on his program.
“See my favorite big booty Latina AOC! I love you AOC—you’re my favorite!” Stein shouts in the video, clearly mimicking a Hispanic accent. “She wants to kill babies, but she’s still beautiful. You look very beautiful in that dress. You look very sexy. Look at that big booty on AOC—that’s my favorite big booty Latina!”
After Ocasio-Cortez walks over to him and flashes a peace sign before walking back up the steps, Stein adds: “Hot, hot, hot like a tamale!”
The progressive lawmaker later blasted Capitol Police officers for standing by while Stein harassed her, saying the “normalization of this event and this dismissiveness is dangerous.” The Capitol Police, however, defended the officers’ treatment of Stein: “The comments, although inappropriate, are not criminal,” the department said in a Thursday statement. “In the video, the man never threatened or touched the Congresswoman. Out of an abundance of caution, our officers stopped the man and ran his information, which did not show any warrants.”
Following the incident, conservatives immediately mocked Ocasio-Cortez’s complaints about both Stein’s aggressively sexual remarks and law enforcement’s lack of action, insisting they had “no sympathy” since she shrugged off protesters showing up outside of a restaurant that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was dining in.
The hosts of Fox News midday panel show Outnumbered quickly followed suit on Friday.
“Protesting Supreme Court justices at home or a restaurant is OK. But protesting an elected official on the steps of the Capitol—with humor—is not,” co-host Dagen McDowell noted at the top of the segment. “Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being accused of hypocrisy for complaining about this.”
Guest host Jimmy Failla called it “clearly a double standard” while jokingly referring to himself as the panel’s “big booty Latina.” At the same time, he did note that he was “not condoning” Stein's comments because they were “trashy” and “there are multiple reasons not to do that.”
Later in the segment, McDowell said Ocasio-Cortez suffered from “asymmetrical anger” because she was upset about things that affect her in a “small way” while dismissing the “life or health or safety” of another person.
Lead anchor Harris Faulkner, meanwhile, took issue with the lawmaker’s criticism of the Capitol Police for not intervening.
“By the way, I watched her clip on Twitter, she’s talking to the camera and she’s all upset,” Faulkner said. “She is saying, ‘the Capitol police couldn’t do anything for me.’ No, you know why? It wasn’t illegal, it was free speech! That is why they couldn’t do anything for you.”
She continued: “Is it heckling? Absolutely. But they didn’t geolocate her, like what’s happening now to the conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The anchor appeared to be referencing an activist group called ShutDownDC offering up “bounties” of $50-200 for any “confirmed sightings” in the D.C. area of the justices who voted to overturn the federal right to abortion. The offer came in the aftermath of the Kavanaugh restaurant incident.
Faulkner wrapped up by insisting that “this goes back to the idea that she’s more special than the rest,” adding that “we are all special and deserve to be protected” before pivoting to crime and how people in “Chicago and bad neighborhoods don’t deserve to have the cops defunded.”
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