You knew it had to happen. How could Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez possibly let an opportunity to weigh in on Twitter about her sister freshman Rashida Tlaib’s horrendous remarks about Mark Meadows slip by? AOC praised Tlaib and called her ‘brave’ on Thursday. Her definition of bravery seems to be a bit different than mine.

Total bravery from @RashidaTlaib as she reminds the nation that tokenism *is* racism https://t.co/z7K0idYd0F — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 28, 2019

During the televised Congressional hearing with the convicted sociopathological liar Michael Cohen, a couple of moments, in particular, jumped out at me. The first happened when Cohen began his long opening statement to the House Oversight Committee and called President Trump a racist, a cheat, and a con man. Why did he lead with the charge of racist? My theory is that the Democrats coaching him before his appearance Thursday wanted the trope of racism front and center in their zeal to damage Trump. Cohen admitted to meeting with the chairman of the committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings and with Rep. Adam Schiff. Schiff held a closed committee hearing with Cohen Thursday.

Meanwhile, Mark Meadows, a member of the committee, invited Lynne Patton to attend. Patton is a black woman, currently head of Region II of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees New York and New Jersey, appointed by President Trump. Meadows knew that the topic of race would come up and he wanted Patton to address the issue. She is a native of Birmingham, Alabama and her resume is impressive. Patton worked for Trump for 15 years before entering her current position. She sat behind Meadows. Her mere presence triggered Tlaib, though, and she referred to Patton as a token, a prop in the committee meeting.

As you know, Meadows put a stop to her despicable language and the smear of racism aimed at him. Thankfully, Patton is also speaking up for herself. That’s all good. But then, on Thursday, Meadows approached Tlaib on the House floor and they spoke. She hugged him. He is a bigger person than I would be, I’ll tell you. Her behavior was unbecoming to a member of Congress and racist is such an over-used slur that it can easily lose its sting. Tlaib hides behind her skin color and thinks she can get away with this behavior.

Blow up Twitter: Meadows and Tlaib just hugged on House floor and are engaged in a long, cordial talk. — Paul Kane (@pkcapitol) February 28, 2019

As long as she continues her own racism – she is unabashedly anti-Semitic – and slings the racism charge against white members of Congress without rebuke, she will carry on. Her real prejudice though was to Lynne Patton. Like many Democrats, Tlaib doesn’t believe that black women (or men) can be conservatives. She dehumanized Patton by referring to her as Meadows’ prop. Tlaib is beholden to identity politics and is blinded to reality. While 90+ percent of black Americans vote Democrat, there are black Republicans and the number may grow during the Trump administration. Issues like criminal justice reform and historically low unemployment help African Americans.

Mark Meadows was moved to tears in his self-defense to Tlaib. He referred to his grandchildren as he raised his objections to Chairman Cummings. Both Cummings and Meadows spoke of their own friendship as collaegues in Congress. I wonder if Tlaib thinks Cummings is a token, too.