New York Congressmember-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has received praise over her handling of Republican commentators, whom she has accused of "doctoring" livestream videos to "sow doubt" over her intelligence.
Since becoming the youngest woman to be elected to Congress, the 29-year-old has continued to face significant scrutiny from detractors, who have questioned everything from her account of having working-class Bronx roots, to her age and experience.
This past week, however, Republican commentators have seized on a slip-up Ocasio-Cortez made during a livestream video, in which she used the term "chambers of Congress" before correcting herself to say "chambers of government, the presidency, the Senate and House," despite Congress having two chambers, the House and Senate, while the government has three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.
Ocasio-Cortez, who has called the incident a "word slip," defended herself on Wednesday, asserting that Republican commentators were "stalking, doctoring and editing" her "casual livestreams out of context in order to sow doubt in my intelligence."
On social media, many appeared to agree, with one Reddit commentator asserting: "I watched her live stream last night. She's clearly intelligent. The trolls came across as low IQ. She handled them straight on very impressively."
"If they have to manipulate her videostreams to make her appear unintelligent that's a message in itself," another commentator wrote in the same thread, commenting on a Newsweek report on the livestream incident.
Another Reddit user pointed out just how severe some of the criticisms Ocasio-Cortez has faced, noting that the New York Congressmember-elect has received harsh rebukes over social media sites like Twitter over the slip-up.
"Jesus, I just read the tweets from the right about her stream... and lost all hope, yet again," the user wrote.
Read more: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slams Republican commentators for doctoring her livestreams to 'sow doubt in my intelligence'
Another said that reading some of the Twitter responses to Ocasio-Cortez's defense, "was a stark reminder of how much of a dark place some of our country is in."
"All the commenters on that Twitter making fun of her (self-corrected) slip up didn't even understand what she was saying," another person said. "They all look like morons trying to pull down someone above them."
One user noted the amplified attention Ocasio-Cortez seems to have received from Republican commentators during and after her successful midterm election bid, writing: "Republicans are obsessed with AOC; it's creepy, even for them."
Another commented that American politics seem to have "descended into high school pettiness," accusing critics of "literally bullying the new girl because her popularity threatens them."
"It's not going to work," they said.
Even before winning her midterm election race, Ocasio-Cortez had seen critics pore over her personal life, with reporters and Republican commentators sharing images of her family home and outfits she has worn, as well as parts of livestream videos she has posted to question her life story, financial status and suitability for the role voters have elected her for.
Ocasio-Cortez has kept a stiff upper lip, however, telling one reporter who posted a photo of the home the politician grew up in—claiming it was a "far cry from the Bronx hood upbringing she's selling"—that his "attempt to strip me of my family, my story, my home, and my identity is exemplary of how scared you are of the power of all four of those things."
"Growing up, it was a good town for working people," the politician said of the area she grew up in.
"My mom scrubbed toilets so I could live here and I grew up seeing how the zip code one is born in determines much of their opportunity," she added.
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Chantal Da Silva is Chief Correspondent at Newsweek, with a focus on immigration and human rights. She is a Canadian-British journalist whose work ... Read more
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