House

Ocasio-Cortez responds to Lindsey Graham debate swipe: You folded ‘like a wet napkin’

UPI Photo

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Saturday responded to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) debate swipe against her the previous night, saying the GOP senator folded “like a wet napkin.”

During Graham’s final debate against his Democratic challenger, Jaime Harrison, the incumbent senator said his rival would go “down the AOC road” on South Carolina’s climate policy, warning it would be devastating to the state’s economy.

Ocasio-Cortez tore into the longtime GOP lawmaker in a tweet Saturday, writing, “I’m not sure you believe in *anything* except preserving yourself. & let’s not get started on your climate denial.”

“I’ve seen a lot of spinelessness in DC, but you’re at the top when it comes to folding on your own values like a wet napkin. SC deserves better,” Ocasio-Cortez added.

Friday’s debate in South Carolina was not the first time the incumbent senator took a jab at the New York congresswoman.

In 2019, he called her and other progressive lawmakers “anti-America” communists, prompting a retort from Ocasio-Cortez.

“I see @LindseyGrahamSC’s biggest issue w/ Trump’s racism is that it doesn’t go far enough,” she tweeted at the time, accusing him of rhetoric akin to 1950s McCarthyism.

Democrats have long lambasted Graham and accused him of hypocrisy over his reversal on supporting President Trump, whom he called a “kook” before he won the 2016 election. Graham has since become one of Trump’s staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill.

During the debate Friday night, Graham defended his stance on climate and the environment, saying, “I’m in the Climate Solutions Caucus” and that he has “worked to set aside lands all over this state so future generations can enjoy it.”

“If I’m in the Senate, we’ll work for solutions to help the environment without destroying the economy,” Graham said.

Harrison called Graham’s response empty-handed, saying, “The senator said that he’s a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus that has no solutions.”

“Nobody wants to look out their window to see oil rigs off the coast of Charleston,” he added. “But our senator is the one waving the flag: ‘Here, oil and gas company. You can drill off of our coast.’ Not on Jaime Harrison’s watch.”

Tags Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Donald Trump Legislatures Lindsey Graham Members of the United States Congress Politics of the United States Progressivism in the United States South Carolina United States

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

See all Hill.TV See all Video

Most Popular

Load more

Video

See all Video