Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic Representative of New York, criticized former Trump adviser Steve Cortes for harping on her boyfriend's "gross pale male feet" after he posted a photo of Ocasio-Cortez and her boyfriend, Riley Roberts, on vacation in Florida, where there is no COVID-19 mask mandate.
Cortes said if "Leftists like AOC actually thought mandates and masking worked," they wouldn't be visiting "free Florida" before, bizzarely, ripping Roberts for "showing his gross pale male feet in public... with hideous sandals."
Ocasio-Cortez later responded, accusing Cortes and Republicans of "projecting their sexual frustrations onto my boyfriend’s feet."
She went on to say Republican men have consistently vented their "very obvious, strange, and deranged sexual frustrations" onto her, other women and members of the LGBTQ+ community," adding:
"These people clearly need therapy, won’t do it, and use politics as their outlet instead. It’s really weird."
Others agreed and joined Ocasio-Cortez in her critisisms of Cortes and Republicans at large.
Ocasio-Cortez has previously spoken about the sexism she has faced as a member of Congress.
She made national headlines in July 2020 after she took to the House floor to enter into the Congressional record a sexist vulgarity said to her by Florida Republican Representative Ted Yoho.
At the time, she said:
"In front of reporters, Representative Yoho called me, and I quote: 'A f'king bitch.'"
She went on to add incidents like the one she described "happen every day," and included a thinly-veiled criticism of former President Donald Trump, who was still in office at the time.
"It happens every day in this country. It happened here on the steps of our nation's Capitol."
"It happens when individuals who hold the highest office in this land admit to hurting women and using this language against all of us."
Representative Yoho denied saying the slur.
