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 Club as 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.
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.
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.
But not everyone thought it was a good look.
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.
@skylergisondo/Instagram
@Pretefunkera/X
@bonnieblue2025/X
@Andie00471/X
