Ocasio-Cortez Backs Boycott of the ‘Racist New York Post’

“We just declared a boycott of the racist NY Post!”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Saturday backed a campaign by Yemeni American shop owners in New York City to boycott the New York Post.

The freshman congresswoman hailed the “community” for the effort, which she compared to its 2017 protest of President Donald Trump’s travel ban. She retweeted a post declaring “a boycott of the racist NY Post!”

Two years ago, Bodega owners across NYC (& cheered by neighbors)shut their shops citywide to protest Trump’s #MuslimBan.

Today, that same community is banding together to reject sales of the NY Post at bodegas citywide.

This is what real unity (& NYC solidarity) looks like ⬇️ https://t.co/mj8vtA4Pv5

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 13, 2019

The calls for a boycott are a response to the Post’s front-page editorial on Thursday that slammed Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., for last month characterizing the Sept. 11 attacks as “some people did something” at a Council on American-Islamic Relations banquet in California on March 23.

WATCH: Bill Maher Calls MAGA Teen a ‘Little Pr***‘ Then Mocks Boys Abused by Priests

“Rep Ilhan Omar: 9/11 Was ‘Some People Did Something,'” blared the cover, which included a photo of the former Twin Towers on fire in the moments before they collapsed. “Here’s your something — 2,977 people dead by terrorism.”

Omar has repeatedly stirred controversy with her criticism of the United States, including by questioning U.S.-Israel relations in terms she later admitted were anti-Semitic.

WATCH: Jordan Peterson’s Epic Smack Down of a Reporter

Ocasio-Cortez – who has been the subject of numerous negative stories by the Post – has repeatedly defended Omar since a video of her making the 9/11 comments surfaced last week on Twitter.

She called the criticism of Omar, mostly by conservatives, “an incitement of violence against progressive women of color.” She also liked those who are upset to Nazis and suggested that Rep. Dan Crenshaw, D-Texas, in particular, has no right to defend 9/11 and should instead worry about right-wing extremism.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, who in January joined Omar as the first Muslim congresswomen, has defended her colleague in similar terms. She claimed that the backlash to Omar’s 9/11 comments was “racist” and put her life in danger, and later accused the Democratic leadership of failing to adequately defend Omar while using its new Muslims members to boast about its diversity.

Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib defends Rep. Ilhan Omar’s 9/11 comments: “she does speak truth”

Tlaib suggests that those who are criticizing Omar are racist pic.twitter.com/of0rgKeCWg

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 11, 2019

Other top Democrats rushed to Omar’s defense on Saturday after Trump retweeted a video interspersing her edited remarks with video of the carnage of the attacks. He commented: “WE WILL NEVER FORGET!”

WE WILL NEVER FORGET! pic.twitter.com/VxrGFRFeJM

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scolded Trump for using the “painful images of 9/11 for a political attack” against Omar.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said during a presidential campaign stop in New Hampshire that Trump is “trying to incite violence and to divide us, and every political leader should speak out against that.”

Omar spoke out for herself in an appearance Wednesday on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” saying: “I took an oath to uphold the Constitution. I am as American as everyone else is.”

She also said in a series of tweets Saturday that Trump, whom she indirectly called “corrupt, inept,” and “vicious,” cannot “threaten my unwavering love for America.”

No one person – no matter how corrupt, inept, or vicious – can threaten my unwavering love for America. I stand undeterred to continue fighting for equal opportunity in our pursuit of happiness for all Americans.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 13, 2019

WATCH: Jordan Peterson’s Epic Smack Down of a Reporter

About Post Author