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AOC trolled for saying use of 'surge' to define border crisis is 'white supremacist idea': 'Get a dictionary'

In a new video, the New York Congresswoman said those using 'surge' were 'trying to invoke a militaristic frame'

New York's Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is being slammed on social media after her recent comments in a new video. During an Instagram Live session on March 30, the Representative asked people to exercise caution in how they talk about the border crisis. However, it looks like her well-intentioned comments did not go down well after she called the use of the term surge "militaristic". 

Social media users have since slammed AOC for her comments, ridiculing her on Twitter. The border crisis has become a major source of controversy since Joe Biden became President. Facilities are stretched out as a record 17,500 children are in the custody of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

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Democrats argue that the situation is far better than that under President Donald Trump, with Republicans arguing the opposite. The fact is, since Biden became President, more migrants have attempted to cross the border. Most media outlets refer to it as a 'surge', which AOC seems to dislike.

'Trying to invoke a militaristic frame'

Late on Tuesday, March 30, AOC posted a series of videos on her Instagram story during an AMA – "Ask Me Anything" session with fans. One of the videos dealt with the border crisis. She told her followers, "They wanna say what about the surge? Well, first of all, just gut check stop. Anyone who is using the term surge around you consciously is trying to invoke a militaristic frame." 

She added, "and that's a problem because this is not a surge, these are children and they are not insurgents and we are not being invaded, which by the way is a white supremacist idea-philosophy, the idea that if another is coming in the population that this is an invasion of who we are". The comparison to insurgents was clearly not a great idea, as social media pointed out. 

'Least idiotic thing she said'

Is how we describe the situation really that important? Absolutely, especially because the internet thinks AOC's reasoning may be the wrong one.

As AOC's comments made their way to more people, many heavily criticized her, calling it 'peak AOC' amongst other things. One user tweeted, "@AOC Ever hear of a surge protector for electronics, or do only white supremest use those? BTW surge has nothing to do with insurgent. Get a dictionary dim dim." Another person said, "It also appears she thought that "migrant surge" was used to describe migrants as "insurgents" which wasn't the least idiotic thing she said...".

Journalist Steve Krakauer said, "Imagine watching this and thinking to yourself “what’s really important in this story is that we stop calling it a surge”...". One person commented, "15,000 kids in cages, Texas facilities at 1700% capacity and she is talking about a “surge” being the wrong term." Another tweeted, "Wow. Surge and insurgents literally have nothing to do with each other shes reaaaachhhhing". "Interesting how stopping illegal immigrants is now considered “white supremacy.”" another person tweeted. Another user trolled her by calling her "idiAOC". 

Another user trolled her by tweeting, "There is a surge of stupidity in her brain". One person called it 'peak AOC' and tweeted, "Not knowing the difference between the meaning of "surge" and "insurgent" - and then using it as a talking point about white supremacy - is peak AOC."

AOC has yet to issue a clarification or further comment, so we can't be sure if she really meant to connect the term to "white supremacy". In the meantime, the crisis at the border continues to get worse. As more migrants arrive, the administration has resorted to housing them in hotels or cramming them into pods. The media was reportedly given access to the holding centers for the first time on Tuesday, March 30.

Photos show that the conditions are as bad as they were under the Trump administration, despite promises from Biden that things would be better.