Triggered: Ocasio-Cortez Explodes Over Claims She is ‘Dumb’

Democratic socialist reacts to people saying she ‘didn’t understand’ Amazon deal

© press Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was triggered by claims she is 'dumb' and 'didn't understand' the Amazon deal

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exploded on Twitter after being triggered by claims she is "dumb" and "didn't understand" the New York-Amazon deal she was widely blamed for sabotaging.

Democratic Rep. Ocasio-Cortez issued a series of tweets defending her part in killing the Amazon HQ2 deal, which ultimately cost New Yorkers over 25,000 new jobs.

Aside from missing out on new jobs in her district, the deal would have plowed nearly $30 billion in tax revenues to the state.

During negotiations with the retail giant, New York officials offered tax reductions to the Jeff Bezos-owned Amazon to secure the deal.

AOC emphatically asserted that she does "understand" how tax incentives work after claiming in an interview that New York was now, somehow, free to spend Amazon's tax discount on other things.

© press Ocasio-Cortez said in a interview that New York could now spend Amazon's tax savings now the deal has fell through

According to the Daily Wire, the defensive thread was prompted by criticism from Crain's New York Business editor Erik Engquist, who said that while he usually defends the democratic socialist congresswoman as intelligent, her troubling comments about the state "invest[ing] those $3 billion" instead of supposedly giving it to Amazon has left him speechless.

"If we were willing to give away $3 billion for this deal, we could invest those $3 billion in our district ourselves, if we wanted to," the freshman congresswoman said last week.

"We could hire out more teachers. We can fix our subways. We can put a lot of people to work for that money if we wanted to."

"I’ve been telling @AOC critics that she is smart, but what do I say when she says nonsense like 'we could invest those $3 billion in [@amazon tax breaks] in our district. We could hire more teachers. We can fix our subways, we can put a lot of people to work for that money,'" tweeted Engquist.

Ocasio-Cortez responded forcefully and at length: "Not sure how many pundits talking about Amazon even read the deal or where it was going. $500+ million of the deal was *capital grants.* $2.5 billion in tax breaks. It’s fair to ask why we don’t invest the capital for public use, + why we don’t give working people a tax break," she wrote in a series of tweets.

"Frankly, the knee-jerk reaction assuming that I 'don’t understand' how tax giveaways to corps work is disappointing. No, it’s not possible that I could come to a different conclusion. The debate *must* be over my intelligence & understanding, instead of the merits of the deal," she wrote.

"There’s NO WAY that this deal - one of the biggest giveaways in state history - could possibly have been bad, right?" she added sarcastically.

"Surely there can’t be anything wrong with suddenly announcing a massive restructuring & pricing out of a community without any advance notice or input from them."

"There’s no CHANCE that the speculative insider real-estate buys that were creating immediate spikes in rent in one of the most rent-burdened communities in NYC could have possibly been unpopular?" she tweeted, linking to an article by Business Insider.

"Or that a technology giant of big-brother-esque potential was selling (notoriously flawed & racially biased) facial recognition technology to ICE while trying to move into 1 of the most immigrant-dense areas of the world?" she added, linking to a Washington Post piece.

"No, it must be because I’m dumb."

"Folks handling the failed deal treated community w/condescension+disdain for their legitimate concerns," she concluded.

"I warned early to any & all that surging NYC costs+failing subways are creating major political forces to be reckoned with. But I don’t know what I’m talking about, right?"

I’ve been telling @AOC critics that she is smart, but what do I say when she says nonsense like “we could invest those $3 billion in [@amazon tax breaks] in our district. We could hire more teachers. We can fix our subways, we can put a lot of people to work for that money” — Erik Engquist (@erik_engquist) February 19, 2019

Not sure how many pundits talking about Amazon even read the deal or where it was going.



$500+ million of the deal was *capital grants.*



$2.5 billion in tax breaks.



It’s fair to ask why we don’t invest the capital for public use, + why we don’t give working people a tax break. https://t.co/jUqaugUHYP — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019

Frankly, the knee-jerk reaction assuming that I “don’t understand” how tax giveaways to corps work is disappointing.



No, it’s not possible that I could come to a different conclusion. The debate *must* be over my intelligence & understanding, instead of the merits of the deal. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019

There’s NO WAY that this deal - one of the biggest giveaways in state history - could possibly have been bad, right?



Surely there can’t be anything wrong with suddenly announcing a massive restructuring & pricing out of a community without any advance notice or input from them. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019

There’s no CHANCE that the speculative insider real-estate buys that were creating immediate spikes in rent in one of the most rent-burdened communities in NYC could have possibly been unpopular?https://t.co/wArbA7B1Q6 — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019

Or that a technology giant of big-brother-esque potential was selling (notoriously flawed & racially biased) facial recognition technology to ICE while trying to move into 1 of the most immigrant-dense areas of the world?



No, it must be because I’m dumb.https://t.co/IoBixav34r — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2019

Folks handling the failed deal treated community w/condescension+disdain for their legitimate concerns.



I warned early to any & all that surging NYC costs+failing subways are creating major political forces to be reckoned with.



But I don’t know what I’m talking about, right?🤷🏽‍♀️ — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 20, 2019

© press New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is one of many who blames Ocasio-Cortez for the Amazon deal falling through

Among those criticizing the Democratic opposition to the deal is Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who slammed "a small group of politicians" who "put their own narrow political interests above their community — which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City — the state's economic future and the best interests of the people of this state."

"The New York State Senate has done tremendous damage," Cuomo said Thursday.

"They should be held accountable for this lost economic opportunity." Full statement below: