Ocasio-Cortez rips Pence’s stay at Trump resort in Ireland: ‘It’s always about the con’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday joined Democrats criticizing Vice President Pence’s stay at a Trump resort during an official visit to Ireland and accused President Trump of using his political position to grow his wealth. 

“Virtually every policy Trump pursues works to steal public money & personally enrich himself & his friends,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday. 

“It’s always about the con.” {mosads}

The freshman representative also said “racism works as the cover for the con” as “corruption isn’t popular policy.” 

“That’s why addressing racism isn’t a ‘distraction’ – it’s key to understanding the hustle against working people,” she said. “Culturally, racism is used as the unspoken cudgel against pro-working class policy.”

Ocasio-Cortez called out Trump’s “racist immigration policies” as an example, adding that private prison company executives get “billions of public dollars” from detention centers holding migrants under the Trump administration’s policies. 

“The corruption of Trump – of many admins – wouldn’t be politically possible without relying on sympathy for racist policies. That’s what Reagan’s Black ‘welfare queen’ was all about, too,” she said. 

“If people think they’re ‘paying for someone else,’ they’ll dismantle their own healthcare.”

Since corruption isn’t popular policy, racism works as the cover for the con. That’s why addressing racism isn’t a “distraction” – it’s key to understanding the hustle against working people.

Culturally, racism is used as the unspoken cudgel against pro-working class policy. /2

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019

The corruption of Trump – of many admins – wouldn’t be politically possible without relying on sympathy for racist policies.

That’s what Reagan’s Black “welfare queen” was all about, too.

If people think they’re “paying for someone else,” they’ll dismantle their own healthcare.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019

She is not the sole member of her party to question Pence’s stay at the Trump International Golf Club in Doonbeg, on the west coast of Ireland, after he met with Irish leaders about 180 miles away in Dublin.

Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, told reporters that Pence stayed at the Trump resort after the president suggested, but didn’t order, it.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) also said Pence is “funneling taxpayer money” to Trump. 

The Democratic National Committee tweeted from its “DNC War Room” account, saying, “Your tax dollars: making the Trump family richer,” noting that Trump was also golfing at one of his other properties at the same time.” 

Pence, however, dismissed criticism as “political attacks by Democrats.”

“If you have a chance to get to Doonbeg, you’ll find it’s a fairly small place, and the opportunity to stay at the Trump National in Doonbeg, to accommodate the unique footprint that comes with our security detail and other personnel, made it logical,” Pence said.

“We checked it with the State Department. They approved us staying there.”