Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared to cry on the House floor on Thursday.
She had recently broken with her fellow socialists during a vote on whether to continue funding Israel’s Iron Dome, a defensive machine meant to intercept rockets headed toward population centers.
Originally, she had criticized the measure to fund the dome. She and her Progressive Caucus convinced the House Democrats to remove the dome provision from another bill. The Progressive Caucus presumably wanted the House vote on that provision separately, instead of voting on a larger bill containing that provision.
The House eventually voted to allocate another $1 billion to restore the dome. 420 representatives voted yes. Only nine voted no, including the socialist Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D–Mich.) Ocasio-Cortez originally voted no but then amended her vote to “present.”
House members may vote “present” in order to abstain.
After amending her vote, Ocasio-Cortez appeared to be crying on the House floor. She then appeared to hug Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D–Wash.), who also voted to fund to dome.
After the vote, Ocasio-Cortez faced bipartisan criticism for her “theatre” and “crocodile tears.”
She’s cried in public before. During her 2018 campaign, she cried while looking at the detention facilities near the border, photographs show.
Take a look at the footage of Ocasio-Cortez crying —
Theatre and bad theatre at that. https://t.co/OptpGeg8DD
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) September 23, 2021
https://twitter.com/EoinHiggins_/status/1441112826462961666?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1441112826462961666%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fmedia%2Falexandria-ocasio-cortez-crying-israel-iron-dome
I’ll never forget this, because it was the moment I saw with my own eyes that the America I love was becoming a nation that steals refugee children from their parents,& caged them.
More kids died after this. To date, no one has been held accountable.
We need to save these kids. https://t.co/HhdMqc5zML
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 25, 2019
President Joe Biden had already committed to replenishing the Iron Dome. He said so in a statement last May, after a view violent clashes between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
Israel Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tweeted that he’d spoken with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D–Md.) Hoyer assured him that the postponement in funding was only “technical,” he tweeted.
After the House vote, Lapid went on Twitter specifically to thank Hoyer. He also thanked Rep. Ted Deutch (D–Fla.), who accused Tlaib of antisemitism on the House floor.
Some Twitter users have speculated as to why Ocasio-Cortez broke with her fellow socialists. Some observers have argued, without any evidence, that she is reevaluating her platform in order to prepare for a Senate run in 2022.
However, a Senate run seems unlikely. Ocasio-Cortez usually pulls a statewide approval rating of 30 percent, according to polls from Siena College and Quinnipiac University. She would need a miracle in order to unseat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) She probably knows that.
Other commentators have speculated that she wanted to vote no on principle but was talked out of it for strategic reasons. That’s possible. After redistricting, she may find herself representing Riverdale, a Bronx neighborhood with pro-Israel leanings.
Some Twitter users have joked that she was crying because of the dry cleaning bill from the Met.
Yet, the truth is… no one yet knows why she changed her vote… or why she’s crying.
The New York Times asked Ocasio-Cortez’s staff about her shift, but the staff declined to comment.
If we want to find out why, we’ll have to wait for Ocasio-Cortez to tweet about it.
Why…was AOC crying after voting present on Iron Dome funding?
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) September 23, 2021
https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1441191164472803329
The Horn editorial team