A video of Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York criticizing her colleagues in the House for not reading legislation before they comment on it has been viewed more than 1.7 million times on Twitter.
Ocasio-Cortez's thorough scolding came after she listened to comments from her fellow representatives that demonstrated a distinct lack of knowledge about the legislation they were discussing—a bill about public banking introduced by AOC and Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan last year.
Ocasio-Cortez said:
"I learned a while ago, you know when I first got to Congress, I thought, man, people definitely study what they're talking about here."
"Then I got here and realized that people don't even—a lot of my colleagues don't even read the bills that they are commenting on."
She then held up a printed copy of the bill and told those gathered:
"But for anyone who's curious, it's right here at the desk."
Her disapproval and condemnation didn't end there, though.
"We're making lots of statements that have nothing to do with the legislation and frankly, you know, if I made comments that very publicly demonstrated that I didn't read the legislation I was discussing, I'd be embarrassed, but that is an aside."
Many praised Ocasio-Cortez online for her frank criticism of her fellow lawmakers.
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