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Why did AOC skip Joe Biden inauguration? Dem lawmaker says she didn't feel safe around Congress members with guns

A Conservartive media outlet said in a taunting tone that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t feel safe about the intentions of Republican lawmakers in the Congress

She has been a leader who is often seen swimming against the tide, even if it is in her own party. New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or 'AOC' as she is popularly known symbolizes the progressive wing of the party, a rebel who doesn’t hesitate to take on even the Democratic leadership. The 31-year-old self-proclaimed socialist leader endorsed Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the presidential primaries last year and was even seen questioning President Joe Biden’s agenda when the veteran was in the process to pick faces for his administration that took over on Wednesday, January 20. She said Biden’s cabinet lacked a cohesive vision.

AOC was not present at Biden’s inauguration, which was attended by Sanders, and she was found to be attending a union strike outside her congressional district (14th)in the Bronx to support it. The union workers went to strike demanding an hourly hike by a dollar. And AOC cited it as her perceived threat from the Republican lawmakers that stopped her from going to the inauguration.

On Thursday, January 21, the firebrand Democrat faced the question during an interview with CNN, where host Chris Cuomo asked her the reason for not attending Biden’s swearing-in. When the host jokingly asked her whether she hated Biden and that was the reason for her to go to the strike at Hunts Point Produce Market instead, AOC disagreed with a laugh before explaining the real reason for her absence.

The NY lawmaker, who didn’t forget to congratulate Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on their inauguration via Twitter and called the day “historic”, said she was still not feeling secured about attending the Capitol following the riot that broke out on January 6. Thousands of supporters of former president Donald Trump stormed the seat of the Congress the day to protest the victory of Biden when the lawmakers were present there to affirm the Democrat’s win in the 2020 presidential election. 

“We still don't feel safe around other members of Congress,” she said, citing Maryland Republican Representative Andy Harris attempting to carry a gun into the House floor on Thursday, a day after the Biden-Kamala Harris presidency was inaugurated. Cuomo cut her off to ask how many people constituted "we". To that, AOC said, "I think a very considerable amount. A lot of members do not feel safe."

“The moment you bring a gun onto the House floor in violation of rules, you put everyone around you in danger,” AOC said, adding, “It is irresponsible, it is reckless, but beyond that, it is in violation of rules — you are openly disobeying the rules that we have established as a community, which means that you cannot be trusted to be held accountable to what we have decided as a community.”

AOC was traumatized by January 6 attack

Ocasio-Cortez spoke about the traumatic experience she had gone through along with her fellow lawmakers the day the Capitol was attacked in a passionate Instagram Live session almost a week after the violence that saw five people, including a policeman, dead. She had said that she had a very close encounter and did not feel that she could make it alive.

“All of these thoughts come rushing to you. I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of the day — and not just in a general sense but also in a very, very specific sense,” AOC said.

However, AOC’s explanation did not go down well with the conservatives. Canadian conservative online news magazine The Post Millennial said in a taunting tone that Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t feel safe about the intentions of Republican lawmakers in the Congress.

Cuomo continued to press Ocasio-Cortez on whether a Republican member of Congress would actually “do you dirty”, with the Congresswoman noting that some Republicans have tried to bring firearms into Congress. "Yes, well, one just tried to bring a gun on the floor of the House today," she said. "I believe it was Representative Andy Harris of Maryland. He tried to bring in a gun on to the House floor... Why does a member of Congress need to sneak a gun on to the House floor?”, the Post report said even though Cuomo did not mention the word “Republican”. 

The Post report also cited another report by The Hill to say while the Maryland lawmaker has refused to either confirm or deny that he brought a gun into the Capitol Building, Harris’s office said that “his family's lives have been threatened by someone who has been released awaiting trial.” AOC was not ready to buy the theory of self-defense. 

The conservative outlet also cited AOC once saying she had safety issues around GOP members of the Congress, that they were White supremacists and she believed they would help people in hurting her. “She has since proposed that there be limits on the free press, and that Trump supporters undergo education in “deradicalization”. In November, Ocasio-Cortez said that she was proud that the progressive movement had "radicalized" millennials",” it said, targeting the Democratic lawmaker.