AOC's Latest Photo-Op: Asking To Be Sworn In for Dramatic Effect
If there were any doubt as to whether Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took her job as an elected legislator seriously or simply wants to garner attention and fame, she provided more evidence in support of the latter during a committee hearing Friday.
The Washington Examiner reported that Ocasio-Cortez appeared as a witness before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Friday to discuss conditions of temporary migrant detention facilities at the southern border and reiterated what she claimed to have seen during a recent Congressional visit.
Prior to delivering testimony, however, the freshman congresswoman asked Democratic chairman Elijah Cummings if she could first be sworn in.
Cummings appeared to be somewhat taken aback by her request, and noted how atypical it was when he said, “We usually don’t require a swearing-in, but you want to be sworn in?”
At a hearing on migrant children and border security, @AOC is sworn in for dramatic effect.
“We usually don’t require a swearing in, but you want to be sworn in?” —@RepCummings
“Yes.” @AOC pic.twitter.com/lqeQrDoTT0
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) July 12, 2019
Rather than press the issue, Cummings proceeded with the formality of a swearing-in, something no member of Congress is required to do when testifying before a congressional committee, given that it is understood that they are required to tell the truth.
In fact, the Examiner noted that the swearing-in protocol is all but meaningless, as it is against the law to lie in front of Congress.
Regardless, Ocasio-Cortez dutifully raised her right hand and vowed to tell the truth as photojournalists snapped the obligatory pictures that she obviously desired.
In response to a tweet from MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski asking why the congresswoman requested the unusual swearing-in, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “GOP has alleged that I am lying about the accounts of migrant women at the border, particularly about the fact that they were were told to drink out of a toilet bowl. Committee staff conferred with me ahead of time about formally requesting to be sworn in.”
While it is possible that Ocasio-Cortez and the committee staff discussed and planned it ahead of time, that doesn’t change the fact that it was nothing more than a photo-op for the attention-seeking socialist upstart.
A quick review of her Twitter timeline shows that she retweeted several posts from liberal media sources about her testimony.
As to whether the congresswoman’s testimony was “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” or dishonest half-truths, misleading claims or outright lies remains up for debate.
The same goes for Cummings: Would he do anything to hold her accountable if it is later revealed that she wasn’t truthful in her testimony?
In the end, Ocasio-Cortez got her photo-op and chance to cast baseless aspersions on the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
She will undoubtedly have plenty of material to tweet and retweet for the next several days, as planned.
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