Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, frequently referred to in shorthand as AOC, complained on Twitter after President Trump referred to her as “AOC” during Thursday’s presidential debate, claiming that it is a form of disrespect that “women notice.”
Trump had mentioned AOC during a climate change portion of the debate. “If you look at what he wants to do, you know if you look at his plan, you know, you know who developed it? AOC+3,” he said.
“I wonder if Republicans understand how much they advertise their disrespect of women in debates when they consistently call women members of Congress by nicknames or first names while using titles & last names when referring to men of = stature,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, adding, “Women notice. It conveys a lot.”
“AOC is a name given to me by community & the people,” she wrote in a follow-up tweet. “Y’all can call me AOC. Government colleagues referring to each other in a public or professional context (aka who don’t know me like that) should refer to their peers as “Congresswoman,” “Representative,”etc. Basic respect 101”
AOC wants to paint Republicans as sexist, but perhaps she hasn’t noticed that Trump refers to nearly all Democrat leaders, male and female, with taunting nicknames. So she should be grateful he hasn’t created one for her. By her own admission, “AOC” is an affectionate acronym of which she approves — except when Trump uses it.