Believe it or not, some politicians, especially younger ones, still have to work to maintain their households while running for office. 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was just elected to Congress, is no exception.
According to Esquire, United States Representatives earn about $174,000 a year, which is a great pay raise to receive but the new group of Congress members elected won’t get their first government paycheck until they’re sworn in…in January.
Ocasio-Cortez explained to The New York Times that the period until she’s sworn in will be “very unusual, because I can’t really take a salary.” She said, “I have three months without a salary before I’m a member of Congress. So, how do I get an apartment? Those little things are very real.” She said she saved money before leaving her job and planned accordingly with her partner. “We’re kind of just dealing with the logistics of it day by day, but I’ve really been just kind of squirreling away and then hoping that gets me to January.”
Well, Fox News Correspondent Ed Henry found hilarity in the idea of living on a limited income and mocked Ocasio-Cortez for wearing “multi-thousand dollar outfits” in photo shoots during the campaign instead of saving for rent money. Panel contributor Judy Miller said Ocasio-Cortez’s story of her financial struggles is “a brilliant political line” while also noting that D.C. is indeed one of the most expensive cities in the country.
Alexandria fired back at Fox News on Twitter with plenty of petty and facts. She wrote, “1. @FoxNews, why can’t any of your anchors say my name correctly? It’s been five months. 2. It is bizarre to see 1%-salaried anchors laugh at the US housing crisis. 3. Never purchased pricey clothes + always told my story. But repeating lies until they are believed is your thing.”
Ocasio-Cortez, who is the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, continued to make a point and stand up for the working class in U.S. politics who are underrepresented. She tweeted, “40% of ALL Americans currently struggle to pay for one basic need like food or rent. As much as @FoxNews likes to mock the working-class, the real scandal is that at the wealthiest point in our history, we are at one of our most unequal. Most Americans are barely scraping by…”
She continued, “There is no reason to be ashamed or embarrassed. Mocking lower incomes is exactly how those who benefit from + promote wealth inequality the most keep everyday people silent about 1 of the worst threats to American society: that the rich are getting richer and the poor, poorer.”
Henry caught wind of Ocasio-Cortez’s response and addressed it on his show, inviting the rep-elect to discuss the housing crisis issue on air. He said, “So the congresswoman-elect … was mad that I was on ‘America’s Newsroom’ and I was talking about the fact that she is now saying she can’t afford an apartment in Washington, D.C., and she thought I was mocking her. I live in Washington. It’s very expensive. … Members of Congress make $174,000 a year. That’s a lot more than people around the country, many people. And there are 435 Democrats and Republicans in the House who have to maintain two homes. Some of them have four or five kids in Georgia, in California, they have to fly back and forth. It’s not easy to do it, they somehow do it. I’m not mocking it and I do believe we have a housing crisis in America.”
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