Earlier this week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) announced she had visited her grandmother’s home in Puerto Rico, which she said remains in disrepair following Hurricane Maria in 2017.
She used the Twitter thread to slam the response of former President Donald Trump, whom she said “blocked relief [money]” for Puerto Rico.
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire immediately responded to the politically charged thread, writing it’s “shameful that you live in luxury while allowing your own grandmother to suffer in these squalid conditions.”
“You don’t even have a concept for the role of [first generation], first-born daughters play in their families,” replied Ocasio-Cortez. “My abuela is okay. But instead of only caring for mine [and] letting others suffer, I’m calling attention to the systemic injustices you seem totally fine [with] in having a U.S. colony.”
Other critics quickly pointed out Ocasio-Cortez draws a salary of $174,000, rents a pricey apartment in Washington, D.C., and drives a Tesla.
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On Friday, Walsh launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Ocasio-Cortez’s grandmother with the goal of repairing her home.
The fundraiser — “Save AOC’s Abuela’s Ancestral Home” — had raised more than $20,000 at the time this story was published.
Walsh, for his part, started the donations off by contributing $499, which, he wrote, “happens to be the cost of a monthly lease payment for a Tesla.”
The commentator then challenged three of his Daily Wire colleagues — Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, and Jeremy Boreing — to do the same.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who has clashed with Ocasio-Cortez on more than one occasion, shared Walsh’s tweet about the congresswoman’s grandmother’s “dilapidated home,” adding a confused emoji.
Soon after the fundraiser began gaining traction on social media, Walsh tweeted Ocasio-Cortez directly, informing her of the campaign.
“Can you send me a [direct message] so that I can get the necessary information to ensure that this money makes it to your grandmother?” he asked. “Thank you!”
The self-avowed socialist lawmaker has not yet commented publicly.
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