Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., recently made a big fuss about her grandmother living in poor conditions in Puerto Rico due to the damages from Hurricane Maria.
The stunt has quickly backfired after critics noted that Ocasio-Cortez was wealthy enough to help her abuela… but demanded the government help her instead.
Ocasio-Cortez posted photos of the home on Twitter last week — and news of her grandmother’s poor living conditions quickly went viral.
“This is her home,” she wrote on Twitter.
Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID.
This is her home. Hurricane María relief hasn’t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR.
People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, & developers are taking them. pic.twitter.com/wnRxLalA2D
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 2, 2021
Many critics simply perceived the post as an opportunity to throw a political shot at former President Donald Trump and virtue signal to her followers.
Conservatives were wondering why the congresswoman — who has two luxury apartments and drives an expensive Tesla — never bothered to fix her grandmother’s home.
Shameful that you live in luxury while allowing your own grandmother to suffer in these squalid conditions
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 2, 2021
So conservatives took things a step further.
Over the weekend, critics decided to raise money to help Ocasio-Cortez’ grandmother… and that’s when things got interesting.
Daily Wire writer Matt Walsh organized a GoFundMe campaign that racked up $100,000 to get AOC’s grandmother in a better living situation.
Yes, you read that correctly.
“… virtue-signaling isn’t going to fix abuela’s roof,” he wrote. “So we are.”
And here’s the kicker: “Someone” in AOC’s family turned down the money.
Walsh announced this via Twitter.
UPDATE: “someone” in AOC’s abuela’s family told GoFundMe that she won’t take the money, even though AOC previously claimed that her grandma was in dire straits (and it was Trump’s fault). @AOC still hasn’t acknowledged this effort or thanked us. Here’s the email from GoFundMe: pic.twitter.com/MsM4ECLDX0
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 5, 2021
“I’m sorry abuela,” Walsh also wrote, along with screenshots of the refunded GoFundMe donations.
"I tried."