The issue of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's claims about her upbringing came up again over the weekend, the New York Post has reported.
The New York lawmaker has throughout her political career emphasized that she grew up in the Bronx, even though most of her childhood was spent in the suburbs in Yorktown, part of Westchester County.
Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx, but her family moved to Yorktown when she was 5 years old and she graduated from Yorktown High School in 2007.
"I'm proud of how I grew up and talk about it all the time," Ocasio-Cortez said on X over the weekend. "My mom cleaned houses and I helped. We cleaned tutors' homes in exchange for SAT prep. Growing up between the Bronx and Yorktown deeply shaped my views of inequality & it's a big reason I believe the things I do today!"
New York State Assemblyman Matt Slater, a Republican who represents Yorktown, criticized Ocasio-Cortez on Sunday, pointing out that "she's embarrassing herself for doing everything possible to avoid saying she grew up in the suburbs instead of the Bronx."
He added that "she has said she visited extended family, she has said she commuted. Now she's in between. It's clearly desperate attempts to protect the lie that she is from the Bronx."
Ocasio-Cortez recently brought up her Bronx roots again, when she got into a heated argument with President Donald Trump over his bombing of Iran without obtaining congressional approval.
When Trump posted that she's "one of the 'dumbest' people in Congress," Ocasio-Cortez slammed the president, saying "I'm a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully," referring to Trump's upbringing in Queens.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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