In November, Congresswoman-Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez became a phenom when she, at age 28, shocked the political establishment by defeating 10 term Democrat Joe Crowley for the Democratic nomination for New York's 14th district earlier this year.
Since then, she has become a lightning rod for conservatives, who have criticized her clothing and treated as clueless.
On Monday, the soon to be Congresswoman took to Twitter to address what she sees as a distinct double standard in how she is treated:
"Double standards are Paul Ryan being elected at 28 and immediately being given the benefit of his ill-considered policies considered genius," Ocasio-Cortez wrote, "and me winning a primary at 28 to immediately be treated with suspicion & scrutinized, down to my clothing, of being a fraud."
Double standards are Paul Ryan being elected at 28 and immediately being given the benefit of his ill-considered po… https://t.co/E9wKpQL3Mt— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1544480763.0
Ocasio-Cortez has made a name for herself as a champion of Medicare for all and a Green New Deal to combat climate change and create jobs in sustainable energy. She has called for higher salaries for staffers and for more young people to run for office.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, by contrast, has spent his career pushing policies that benefit the richest Americans while cutting social programs for the poor. This is despite having grown up on social security survivor benefits he inherited from his father.
Thus, Ryan's ongoing hypocrisy on social programs was glaring.
People had Ocasio-Cortez's back.
@Ocasio2018 @AngelSanchezGDL Ryan is the fraud. You are the real thing. You have TONS of support! 💚🧡💚🧡— Clara Maria O'Brien (@Clara Maria O'Brien) 1544538044.0
@Ocasio2018 It’s called discrimination: your gender, color and social economic background. So detestable!! We love… https://t.co/0JJS9Nn8Yr— Justina Salvatierra (@Justina Salvatierra) 1544538943.0
@Ocasio2018 @armyheromom Stay strong Alexandria 💪🏻👍🏻— WJG (@WJG) 1544530864.0
@Ocasio2018 A healthy dose of misogyny is involved here. And by healthy I mean sickening.— 𝑀𝒾𝓈𝑔𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 (@𝑀𝒾𝓈𝑔𝒾𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈) 1544527723.0
@Ocasio2018 @CindyHPhoto People on this thread criticizing @Ocasio2018 without acknowledging Paul Ryan was/is a sna… https://t.co/V8LewTpdVl— Matt (@Matt) 1544536227.0
@Ocasio2018 💯 a double standard. Though to be fair, I’m pretty sure @ezraklein is a fan of yours—or at the very lea… https://t.co/H9rPwLeoJp— Evagelia, Emily, Eva (@Evagelia, Emily, Eva) 1544533207.0
@Ocasio2018 Yes, that's the double standard. I immediately can think of other examples in my own work life.— Heidi Escobar (@Heidi Escobar) 1544538713.0
@Ocasio2018 The number of people hating on her for this post is proving her point.— James Ryan McGinnity (@James Ryan McGinnity) 1544540387.0
As for Klein's take on Ryan, Twitter had some feedback of its own - and it does not look like Ryan will be fondly remembered.
@ezraklein @katedailey https://t.co/fcP330w7Rg— Dave Weigel (@Dave Weigel) 1544455187.0
@ezraklein Ryan was only ever about redistributing wealth up and ending the social safety net. He accomplished the… https://t.co/O3fgo6rdxM— LaneBrooks (@LaneBrooks) 1544443920.0
@ezraklein Damn, if only there had been some way to know he was full of shit before today— Branson Reese (@Branson Reese) 1544460109.0
@ezraklein “Benefit of the doubt” is what you do when someone appears good. When you decide to support someone you… https://t.co/gsp8tRNUHH— Sam Sykes (@Sam Sykes) 1544481014.0
@ezraklein I don’t mean to sound rude, but it was a pretty obvious con from Day 1.— KB (@KB) 1544444419.0
@kdb7839 @ezraklein @washingtonpost @Wonkblog @SpeakerRyan To give .@SpeakerRyan the benefit of the doubt was a foo… https://t.co/EDOgNfD8ZM— Democratic Future Today (@Democratic Future Today) 1544450186.0
@ezraklein Well of course you were. Nothing about that man should have inspired your confidence in the first place.— MDiva 🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️ (@MDiva 🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️) 1544456428.0
@ezraklein You were also ignoring the pretty clear fact that the guy is a giant douche.— DC Women Kicking Ass (@DC Women Kicking Ass) 1544483141.0
Ryan's capitulation to boorish President Donald Trump also did not sit well with Klein.
Klein said in his editorial:
"Ryan proved himself and his party to be exactly what the critics said: monomaniacally focused on taking health insurance from the poor, cutting taxes for the rich, and spending more on the Pentagon. And he proved that Republicans were willing to betray their promises and, in their embrace of Trump, violate basic decency to achieve those goals."