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by Jenn Carter

Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) faced backlash on social media over racially charged remarks she made.

Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks started on Friday when she defended Rep. Rashida Tlaib‘s (D-MI) false insinuation at a House Oversight Committee hearing that Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) was a racist for bringing a black Trump official to the hearing to combat the notion that President Donald Trump was a racist.

“Just because someone has a person of color, a black person, working for them does not mean they aren’t racist and … the fact someone would actually use a prop, a black woman in this chamber, in this committee is alone racist in itself,” Tlaib said, clearly talking about Meadows.

Tlaib was forced to apologize after even Democrats criticized her outrageous smear against Meadows.

But Ocasio-Cortez rushed to Tlaib’s defense, tweeting: “Total bravery from @RashidaTlaib as she reminds the nation that tokenism *is* racism.“

The tweet from the 29-year-old, which ignited a firestorm online with many calling her statement racist, carried over to Saturday when she was forced to respond to some of the criticism she received.

In response to Black Fox Business anchor Charles Payne, AOC tweeted:”We have Black staff. We don’t parade them around to show the world how diverse our team is, and use that as some kind of evidence of the absence of racism. That’s what tokenism is.”

We have Black staff. We don’t parade them around to show the world how diverse our team is, and use that as some kind of evidence of the absence of racism. That’s what tokenism is. https://t.co/5qWMqy9522 — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 2, 2019

As was the case on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet on Saturday elicited blistering criticism online with many noting that the fact that she was parading around her black staff on Twitter to her millions of followers.

“This woman just literally did the exact opposite of what she claims in her tweet and doesn’t realize it! ‘We have black staff. We don’t parade them around’. (As she parades them on twitter),” Derek Schwartz tweeted. “Lord help us all.”

https://twitter.com/derek_mafs/status/1101868257873747968

https://twitter.com/MarkDice/status/1101881791655247872

Why are you such a racist? https://t.co/lKiQ3lXNaI — CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) March 2, 2019

“I need clearer rules,” Scott Adams hilariously tweeted. “Can I tweet that my staff is diverse so long as I am not parading it around? And hypothetically, if I have a black friend — and I’m not saying I do, as I understand that would be racist tokenism — should I keep it to myself?”

I need clearer rules. Can I tweet that my staff is diverse so long as I am not parading it around? And hypothetically, if I have a black friend — and I'm not saying I do, as I understand that would be racist tokenism — should I keep it to myself? https://t.co/teAqn01t6o — Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) March 2, 2019

Which means that you keep them down in the slave quarters where they belong instead of letting them into the house?



You're still practicing the racism of assuming "black staff" aren't competent humans who, having earned positions on merit, have legitimate functions to perform. — John Hill (@StandWithAZ) March 3, 2019

Fox’s Charles Payne himself tweeted back with a searing response:

“Thanks for getting back. Its disappointing rhetoric to suggest people are paraded and belittle hiring of Black people as tokenism,” Charles Payne tweeted. “Moreover, questioning their accomplishments is even more problematic. You get that. BTW some of the Black folks on your staff (may) want to be visible.”