Once again demonstrating her ability to use social media to simultaneously expose the lies of right-wing critics and clearly articulate a bold progressive agenda, Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) quickly disposed of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's false claim that she compared her election victory to the moon landing, noting that she was actually referring to the "level of ambition" and "innovation" that will be necessary to implement a Green New Deal and confront the global climate crisis.
"Leave the false statements to Sarah Huckabee," Ocasio-Cortez wrote, referring to President Donald Trump's press secretary and the former governor's daughter. "She's much better at it."
The remarks Huckabee and right-wing publications seized upon and quickly took out of context came during a Capitol Hill press conference on Friday, during which Ocasio-Cortez said a Green New Deal is achievable because the United States has previously "done what we thought was impossible."
"We went to the moon. We electrified the nation. We established civil rights. We enfranchised the country. We dig deep, and we did it," Ocasio-Cortez said. "We did it when no one else thought that we could. That's what we did when so many of us won an election this year."
Following the press conference, Fox News host Sean Hannity tweeted out an article from his website headlined, "LUNAR LUNACY: Cortez Compares Her 2018 Election with the MOON LANDING, 'Establishing Civil Rights.'"
In response, Ocasio-Cortez wrote: "Actually, we compared the effort of a Green New Deal to these movements because that is the scale of ambition, social justice, and organizing it will take to save our planet."
The newly elected democratic socialist went on to urge people to tune in to Monday's climate town hall, where she will appear alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and environmental experts to discuss the necessity of bold solutions like the Green New Deal to avert planetary catastrophe.
