Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at US President Donald Trump calling her a "wack job" on Thursday, by saying it was "better than being a criminal who betrays our country."

Ocasio-Cortez was likely commenting on the ongoing impeachment inquiry into Trump, which was sparked by the president asking Ukraine to investigate election rival Joe Biden.

Trump used the name for her as he shared a tweet from Donald Trump Jr, one of his sons, that showed a woman having what Ocasio-Cortez described as an apparent "crisis" at one of her constituency meetings.

Ocasio-Cortez wrote: "This person may have been suffering from a mental condition and it's not okay that the right-wing is mocking her ... Be a decent human being and knock it off."

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to US President Donald Trump calling her a "wack job," saying it was "better than being a criminal who betrays our country."

Trump on Thursday shared a tweet from his son Donald Trump Jr. that included a video of a woman at one of Ocasio-Cortez's constituency meetings declaring that people should "eat babies" to combat climate change.

Sharing a video of the incident, Trump then wrote: "AOC is a Wack Job!"

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Ocasio-Cortez then responded that it was: "Better than being a criminal who betrays our country." This was likely a reference to the ongoing impeachment inquiry into the president. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

She also urged compassion, saying the woman in question "may have been suffering from a mental condition."

Rep. Bernie Sanders, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, also responded to Trump's comment about Ocasio-Cortez, saying: "It's going to be a real pleasure defeating you."

Trump is facing a deepening impeachment inquiry launched in light of a phone call between him and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he asked Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, the former vice president and another of Trump's Democratic election opponents.

Ocasio-Cortez also hit out of the dissemination of footage of the woman by Trump Jr. and other figures. Trump Jr. had shared the video with the comment: "Seems like a normal AOC supporter to me."

"At one point I was concerned there was a woman in crisis & want to ensure we treat the situation compassionately," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.



"Let's not mock or make a spectacle," she wrote.

Read more: 2 key facts refute Trump's conspiracy theories about the Ukraine scandal

"This person may have been suffering from a mental condition and it's not okay that the right-wing is mocking her and potentially make her condition or crisis worse. Be a decent human being and knock it off," she wrote.

Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive freshman Congresswoman, has long expressed support for impeaching Trump, and is now joined by leading Democrats.

She has also been the recipient of some of Trump's most pointed ire against Democrats.

Last week, he labelled her and other leading party members "savages" for their support for impeachment proceedings.