Ocasio-Cortez primary opponent Caruso-Cabrera goes on fierce attack in online debate: ‘AOC is always MIA’

Former CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, who is running a primary challenge to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, slammed the New York Democrat’s response to the coronavirus on Monday, saying, “AOC is always MIA.”

Caruso-Cabrera has relentlessly targeted Ocasio-Cortez since she launched her campaign in February. Last month, she called the freshman lawmaker “out of touch” for voting against a $484 billion coronavirus stimulus package. 

“My opponent AOC made very clear all of her priorities, and yet, what I don’t understand is why AOC is always MIA,” Caruso-Cabrera said during an online debate hosted by BronxNet.

Caruso-Cabrera said that Ocasio-Cortez remained in her Washington, D.C., apartment building with a Whole Foods in the lobby “at the height of the crisis,” even when the House was not in session.

“Me, day one, I was out delivering food, I was out delivering masks — I wasn’t even elected,” Caruso-Cabrera.

Ocasio-Cortez responded that her reason for staying in her apartment was that she “wasn’t feeling very well,” and that she has helped raise nearly $500,000 for pantries in the community, in addition to helping to deliver meals to residents herself.

“You’re always working on your celebrity status, You’re divisive, and you work against the party,” Caruso-Cabrera said.

Ocasio-Cortez said she voted against the coronavirus stimulus bill in question because it excluded benefits for immigrants and American citizens married to immigrants, which she would never support “in a district that is 50 percent immigrant.”

Ocasio-Cortez added that she has collaborated “a lot” with fellow members, saying that she “cosponsored hundreds of bills” with both Democratic and Republican colleagues.

Caruso-Cabrera also targeted Ocasio-Cortez’s sponsorship of the Green New Deal, calling it a “divisive policy that doesn’t actually achieve anything,” while she herself would work on “very specific things” to aid the district, such as developing sea walls for protection from floods.