Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

AOC: Ocasio-Cortez says she is sexual assault survivor

AOC: Ocasio-Cortez says she is sexual assault survivor

US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has revealed that she is a survivor of sexual assault. That definitely explains her traumatic way of looking at every event, and should relax all the criticism against her. As a post trauma person we should all wish her to get back to mentally healthy condition ASAP.

Her statement came as she described the trauma of hiding from a violent mob that stormed the Capitol last month.

She also claims Republicans are using "the tactics of abusers" by telling lawmakers to "move on" from the trauma.

The New York Democrat, known by her initials AOC, has been a lightning rod for conservatives and has frequently been condemned by Donald Trump.

"I'm a survivor of sexual assault," she said in an Instagram Live video on Monday night, fighting back tears. "And I haven't told many people that in my life."

The 31-year-old self-described democratic socialist disclosed little about her sexual assault ordeal, but said: "When we go through trauma, trauma compounds on each other."

What did she say about Republicans?


She also blasted Republicans like Texas Senator Ted Cruz for denying what she described as their responsibility for the storming of the Capitol complex, which left five people dead.

After Mr Cruz last week agreed with Ms Ocasio-Cortez on a policy matter, she lashed out: "You almost had me murdered three weeks ago so you can sit this one out."


Mr Cruz, and other Republicans who objected to the congressional certification of President Joe Biden's victory - which was taking place as the mob breached the Capitol - have previously denied any role in stoking the violence.

She said she was particularly appalled by Texas Congressman Chip Roy, a former aide to Ted Cruz, who has called for the congresswoman to apologise to his former boss.

"These are the tactics of abusers," Ms Ocasio-Cortez said during the broadcast to about 150,000 viewers. "Or rather, these are the tactics that abusers use.

"And so when I see this happen, how I feel, how I felt was: 'Not again.' I'm not going to let this happen again. I'm not going to let it happen to me again. I'm not going to let it happen to the other people who've been victimised by this situation again."

What did she say about the riot?


Ms Ocasio-Cortez described the 6 January riot, which sent lawmakers scrambling for cover and barricading their congressional offices, as like a "zombie movie".

"I thought I was going to die," she said.

"We cannot move on without accountability," she said on Instagram. "We cannot heal without accountability. All these people telling us to move on are doing so at their own convenience."

She added: "The folks who are saying, 'We should move on,' 'We shouldn't have accountability,' et cetera, are saying: 'Can you just forget about this so we can, you know, do it again?'"

She recounted how she concealed herself behind her office's bathroom door, and glimpsed a white man storming into her office, shouting: "Where is she? Where is she?"

The congresswoman said it was a Capitol Police officer, but he looked at her with "anger and hostility" and did not identify himself as a member of law enforcement.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez said she and her staff did not know whether the officer was there to "help us, or hurt us".

Who is Ocasio-Cortez?


Ms Ocasio-Cortez is a member of the so-called Squad of young women lawmakers elected to office in 2018 amid a wave of Democratic victories.

Their national profile rose in 2019 after Mr Trump told the four women, who are all ethnic minorities, to "go back" to where they were from in a comment largely condemned as racist.

She has become a high-profile target of conservative media and Republicans in Congress.

Last July, she accused a Republican senator of using sexist language against her during a heated exchange in the halls of the Capitol.

One of the rioters apologised last week for tweeting "Assassinate AOC" as the violence was still unfolding.

"While I never intended to harm Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez nor harm any members of the Capitol police force, I recognise that my social media posts were completely inappropriate," said Texas man Garret Miller, who is facing four federal charges.

What else did she say?


Her comments come as former-President Trump faces an impeachment trial in the Senate for having allegedly incited an insurrection by giving a speech to the mob approximately an hour before the violence began.

Republicans say Democrats are preventing the country from healing by seeking to cast blame on Mr Trump.

In her Instagram video, Ms Ocasio-Cortez denounced people who are "constantly trying to tell you that you didn't experience what you experienced or that you're lying."

"There's the trauma of going through what you went through," she said, "and then there's the trauma afterwards of people not believing you, or trying to publicly humiliate you, or trying to embarrass you.

"And that also gets internalised, too, because a lot of times you don't want to believe it either."

Ms Ocasio-Cortez said she was prepared for criticism after sharing her sexual assault ordeal because it was not directly related to the Capitol riot.

"People are going to say that, 'Oh, she's just trying to make it about her,'" she said. But all of your traumas can intersect and interact, she added.

She said Congress had made counsellors available for lawmakers, especially those who had encountered rioters, in order to help them process the ordeal.

"Those folks who are just trying to tell us to move on are just like pulling the page, they're using the same tactics of every other abuser who just tells you to move on," she said.


The storming of the US Capitol


AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×