Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends using cars instead of subway after 'hypocrisy' claims: 'Living in the world as it is'

When the New York Post called Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a hypocrite for riding in cars over the weekend, the freshman congresswoman made it clear that she found the paper’s logic hilariously flawed. “No one can rival this kind of hard-hitting journalism,” she tweeted on Sunday.

The Post’s front page headline read, “Gas-guzzling car rides expose AOC’s hypocrisy amid Green New Deal pledge.”

The Ocasio-Cortez campaign’s federal filings included more than 1,000 rides with Uber, Lyft, Juno and other car services totaling $29,366, according to the Post. Ocasio-Cortez spokesman Corbin Trent told the Post that “everyone — top to bottom” on the campaign used the New York City subway.

The progressive Democrat’s Green New Deal proposal called for a total overhaul of the nation’s transportation system in order to dramatically cut back on emissions that harm the environment. Her office’s fact sheet on the plan, released last month, says that efforts to combat climate change should include “massively expanding electric vehicle manufacturing, build charging stations everywhere, build out high-speed rail at a scale where air travel stops becoming necessary [and] create affordable public transit available to all, with the goal to replace every combustion-engine vehicle.”

But Ocasio-Cortez explained in a series of tweets that “living in the world as it is” doesn’t mean she isn’t working toward climate change solutions.

Ocasio-Cortez particularly made fun of the Post for zeroing in on her use of a minivan while leaving an event in Queens last weekend. While the newspaper assumed it was a hired car, the congresswoman tweeted that her aunt “was very upset” that the paper “insulted” her personal vehicle.

The Post’s article also called out the native New Yorker for flying and appearing to not compost her food scraps, though her Green New Deal proposal doesn’t mention eliminating food waste.

Ocasio-Cortez has called out the paper multiple times for its frequent coverage of her. Most recently, she fired back online when the Post asked, “Where in the world does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez live?” and called her a “a virtual ghost.” Her criticism wasn’t exclusive to the Post, though, as she criticized other reporters for revealing where she lives when a man was just arrested for an alleged domestic terror plot that targeted her and other members of Congress.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls out man ‘creepily’ taking her photo: ‘This is weird!’

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defends not standing up for Trump after critic compares her to a ‘sullen’ teen

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reveals where she bought her famous gold hoops

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