Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) schooled Vivek Ramaswamy after the former presidential candidate shared “our message to Gen Z” at the Republican National Convention.
“You want to be a rebel? You want to be a hippie? You want to stick it to the man? Show up on your college campus and try calling yourself a conservative,” the wealthy entrepreneur said on stage at the event on Tuesday. “Say you want to get married, have kids, teach them to believe in God and pledge allegiance to their country.”
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A clip of the moment went viral online, accumulating more than 2 million views and attracting rebukes — including from Ocasio-Cortez.
“Young people don’t take well to bigoted leaders who attack LGBTQ+ rights, outlaw abortion, cozy up to gun manufacturers + oil execs, and support a rapist for President,” wrote the progressive lawmaker, who in 2018 became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
“If you want to be cool so badly, try giving a damn about other people beyond yourself. Might open a few doors,” she added.
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Ramaswamy took the podium on Day 2 of the RNC in Milwaukee, pumping up the crowd with calls to vote for Donald Trump, as his other former presidential rivals also lined up to kiss the ring.
Ramaswamy dropped out of the race in January and swiftly endorsed the former president, whom he had praised throughout his campaign.
Trump formally became the GOP’s nominee on Monday, even after he was convicted of 34 felony counts in May for falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star. He faces two additional criminal indictments over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election and was found liable in civil trials for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, who says he raped her in the 1990s.
