We shook our heads earlier when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who went from being a bartender to a member of Congress with a luxury apartment (with a garbage disposal!), argued that it’s “a physical impossibility to lift yourself up by a bootstrap, by your shoelaces? It’s physically impossible.”

As is the pattern with AOC, she tweets or says something incredibly stupid, gets called out on it, and then jumps back on Twitter to prove she was right in the first place and make herself the victim of mean conservatives who just don’t understand. “If you think I’m hopelessly dumb,” she tweeted, prophetically, and then pulled up footage of Martin Luther King, Jr. talking about pulling oneself up by their bootstraps.

I see that the right is worked up that we pointed out the myth of bootstrapping when 60% of the wealth in this country is *inherited.* But hey, if you think I’m hopelessly dumb, try listening to MLK talk about “bootstrapping” & the racial wealth gap, too: pic.twitter.com/RHdSfzaJzH — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 6, 2020

You know, watching that clip just shows the massive difference in intellect between MLK and AOC. But she went on:

What does “bootstrapping” mean to the GOP?

That you didn’t go to public school?

That you didn’t enlist in the military, which is funded by the gov?

That you never got a tax break for starting a business or buying a home?

That your parents never used food assistance to feed you? — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 6, 2020

Carol Roth and others answered that one:

There's approx $98 trillion of wealth owned by Americans currently. So 40% or $39.2 trillion-& growing-wasn't inherited. I'd guess those who "bootstraped" into $39.2 trillion are feeling good. Those who passed down wealth are happy the govt didn't steal their legacy. Nice try. https://t.co/9urgJXxJdi — Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) February 6, 2020

The 60% of inherited wealth comes largely from earlier bootstrappers. Americans take risks and work insane hours precisely so they can create value that can be used to provide for their progeny. AOC needs to quit demonizing the wealthy and focus more on expanding the pie. — BlackJackBoGreen (@BlackJackBoGre1) February 6, 2020

Wow, lmao???!!!

There is SO much going on here…

It’s a 53 yr old clip that’s not relevant in today’s society…

And in her Feeble, and Comically Careless attempt to cherry pick her “bootstrapping” point, she gets OUR bootstrapping point proven, by the MLK himself (pic) pic.twitter.com/ci5CGmSCs6 — VinnyThe? (@Vinny_TheBull) February 6, 2020

This very used clip of MLK is valid…but so have been the 50+ years since his death. So, aside from the wokeness that can be derived here is this an admission that all those years of Head Start, Affirmative Action, etc. just didn’t work? That govt can’t provide opportunity? — BhawkMom (@bhawk_mom) February 6, 2020

I work hard so my kid can lead a better life. Why is AOC trying to position inheritance as an evil? It is working for your family and enabling you to leave behind a legacy. It should be encouraged. — Brett Rudy (@bkrudy) February 6, 2020

Inherited to you, stayed with my family to me. I am against stealing from families. — Rob Ives (@Prosqtor74) February 6, 2020

Damn those parents who save money and pass it on to their kids! They should be like Boomers and spend it all on Cruises and Blow. — Nathaniel Wright (@NateAndHist) February 6, 2020

Suggest you look at Gates, Bezos, Buffett, Jobs for a start okay sweetheart. — TommyHour?? (@thomashourigan1) February 6, 2020

The billionaires the 2020 Democratic candidates have painted targets on their foreheads?

She's often wrong, but never in doubt. — Terry Welty (@terrywelty) February 6, 2020

Bootstrapping is not a "myth." If your point is that slavery and massive civil rights violations created wealth disparity for blacks, absolutely. If your point is that therefore the only way to solve this is via massive wealth transfer, laundered through DC, you lost me. https://t.co/LKqPDOAxyX — Mo Mo (@molratty) February 6, 2020

I keep hearing that 60% of American wealth is inherited. Where does this claim come from? As far as I can tell, it's something Piketty argued but it appears based on regression analysis rather than any kind of concrete stats. Also it states this number is global, not American. pic.twitter.com/2tPUhgmZBr — neontaster (@neontaster) February 6, 2020

Important to note that it states at the bottom that this isn't concrete data. Just look at the benchmark vs high gift estimate and see how large the margin of error is. Yet another factor is that inheriting a house from your grandma also counts. It's not just rich kids. — neontaster (@neontaster) February 6, 2020

Disclaimer: I don't know shit about econ. This is what I'm seeing from trying to understand this stuff myself. — neontaster (@neontaster) February 6, 2020

I don't think you're hopelessly dumb. You are hopelessly dumb. https://t.co/VMsghYxKx2 — Eric Spencer (@JustEric) February 6, 2020

If you think you live under the same conditions MLK and his generation did, you are hopelessly dumb. But I think you're an opportunistic ideologue, if it makes you feel better. https://t.co/UziPk8EYM2 — Oh THAT Guy (@NathanWurtzel) February 6, 2020

The Democrats: Trying to convince you nothing has changed since the 1960's Forgetting entirely that a child born in adverse circumstances rose to become the first African American President. But the race and poverty industry demands what it demands. Stop trying & surrender. https://t.co/npNe4nCG0L — Tall Man Short Hair (@TallManShort) February 6, 2020

This only applies to Black Americans, this doesn't apply to any other ethnic group in America. Poor immigrants aren't poor because America made them poor, they came here poor, and they come here because they know there is opportunity here. https://t.co/SHr5d0oT49 — Standard Merch (@Standard_Merch) February 6, 2020

You went from being a bartender to a congress woman; you embody the very phrase you're bashing. Stop trying to cripple people by telling them that they can't improve their situations. https://t.co/B6BZuWZAbd — Jared Benson (@JaredTBen) February 6, 2020

In the meantime, prayers up for Caleb Hull:

Please pray for me. Nothing is wrong, but I'm currently digging through 2 hours of an AOC testimony that wasn't broadcast to find clips of just how stupid she actually is. — Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) February 6, 2020

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