Since her upset primary victory in July of 2017, progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's unabashed platform of ICE abolition, medicare for all, and environmental policy overhaul has made her a favorite target of Republican lawmakers and pundits.
Whether she's warning of the threats posed by climate change or dancing a la Breakfast Clubas a college student, no opportunity to seize upon her is too small.
Her conservative critics proved that again today when reacting to a photo of Ocasio-Cortez—colloquially known as AOC—blowing bubbles with a child.
The moment was captured in an ad for her reelection campaign.
The congresswoman has been a staunch defender of public safety measures in the face of the pandemic, especially in regards to mask-wearing.
So Republican critics didn't hesitate to call attention to a moment when she pulled down her mask to blow bubbles with a toddler from her community.
When you take off your mask to blow bubbles https://t.co/NCinuJj92t— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸) 1594128633.0
These critics didn't point out that the child is wearing a mask and that the pair is socially distant.
They also forgot that the virus is inactivated by soap—but Dr. Philip Lee soon burst that bubble.
Very good Mia, except that you may wish to consider that SARS2-COV is inactivated by soaps and detergents, which if… https://t.co/wB53ZDSSvy— Dr Philip Lee (@Dr Philip Lee) 1594114541.0
In fact, soap and water are better at debilitating the virus than hand sanitizer, because soap allows for fats/oils and water to mix.
This comes in handy when combatting the viral pathogen because, as neuro-infectious disease expert Dr. Daniel Pastula points out:
"Soap can bridge the chemical differences between water and fat. That's why you need soap to clean a greasy frying pan. Guess what's coating this particular virus? It's a layer of fat. Soap molecules can pry themselves into the fatty layer of this particular virus and break it up, thus inactivating the virus."
Once again, it would seem AOC's critics came up short.
@drphiliplee1 Kens and Karens don't really care about things like facts. "Own the libs init"— SedatedFMS (@SedatedFMS) 1594114660.0
@drphiliplee1 https://t.co/BPjmi7LUoN— James (@James) 1594114704.0
@drphiliplee1 Thanks Doc for correcting her lack of knowledge, may it stop the woman blowing bubbles receiving hate tweets— Gail Hughes (@Gail Hughes) 1594115368.0
@drphiliplee1 Nothing like facts to stand in the way of a sensationalised story. Well done.— inimlin (@inimlin) 1594119201.0
@drphiliplee1 @LividLert In addition to the fact that the child is wearing a mask AND they're properly socially dis… https://t.co/zuJhrBuWXf— 🛡️𝕲𝖗𝖆𝖆𝖋 𝖁𝖆𝖓 𝖉𝖊𝖓 𝕬𝖛𝖔𝖓𝖙🛡️🇧🇪🇪🇺 (@🛡️𝕲𝖗𝖆𝖆𝖋 𝖁𝖆𝖓 𝖉𝖊𝖓 𝕬𝖛𝖔𝖓𝖙🛡️🇧🇪🇪🇺) 1594152938.0
But not everyone thought it was a good look.
@drphiliplee1 Oh come on. I'm a big fan of AOC, but she shouldn't have done that and the bubble theory is a real st… https://t.co/sYBRWkHxsg— Adam's Myth (@Adam's Myth) 1594117480.0
@missmiafaith 1. She should probably not have not removed her mask. 2. The bubbles are not in the child’s face. 3.… https://t.co/3WUfcbgrOU— Dr Martin Remains Optimistic (@Dr Martin Remains Optimistic) 1594115225.0
@drphiliplee1 Still not a good look, and a stretch to defend— Lucas McDuffie (@Lucas McDuffie) 1594145668.0
Many of those who criticized Ocasio-Cortez for briefly pulling down her mask support President Donald Trump, whose Tulsa rally last month was determined by health officials as a "likely" contributor to the city's spike in virus cases.