Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Responds to Being Called 'Young Lady' by Colleague During Spending Bill Dispute

"I usually know my questions of power are getting somewhere when the powerful stop referring to me as 'Congresswoman' and start referring to me as 'young lady' instead," the progressive lawmaker wrote on Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Joe Manchin
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (left), Joe Manchin. Photo: Jenny Anderson/ABC via Getty; Greg Nash-Pool/Getty

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking fellow Democrat Joe Manchin to task for what she called "weird, patronizing behavior," after the West Virginia senator called her "young lady" amid a split in their party over a sweeping new bill.

"In Washington, I usually know my questions of power are getting somewhere when the powerful stop referring to me as 'Congresswoman' and start referring to me as 'young lady' instead," Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive, tweeted Sunday of her moderate colleague.

She continued: "Imagine if every time someone referred to someone as 'young lady' they were ask responded to by being addressed with their age and gender? They'd be pretty upset if one responded with 'the old man,' right? Why this kind of weird, patronizing behavior is so accepted is beyond me!"

Manchin will be a key vote in the Senate to pass a $3.5 trillion spending package, given the Democrats' razor-thin majority. But he has said he cannot support the legislation unless the cost is reduced.

Ocasio-Cortez and her fellow progressives, meanwhile, initially wanted a much larger spending package and view the $3.5-trillion bill as a compromise.

On Twitter earlier this month, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Manchin's lack of support for the spending bill stems from the fact that he has "weekly huddles" with oil lobbyists.

Speaking on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Manchin said recent comments Ocasio-Cortez made about him (and why he doesn't support the package) were "totally false."

"I keep my door open for everybody," Manchin said. "It's totally false. And those types of superlatives, it's just awful. Continue to divide, divide, divide."

"I don't know that young lady that well," he continued. "I really don't. She's just speculating and saying things."

In a recent op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, Manchin said he wouldn't support the bill due to the nation's debt and worries about inflation.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

On Monday, Democrats released details of how they would pay for the plan by undoing some of the tax cuts enacted under former President Donald Trump rather than adding to the federal debt and deficit.

The latest plan calls for an increase of the top corporate tax rate to 26.5 percent (up from the current rate, 21 percent) and restoring the top rate to 39.6 percent.

That top rate would apply to individuals earning more than $400,000 and married couples earning more than $450,000, NPR reports. The plan would also increase taxes on items such as nicotine and tobacco products.

Passing the legislation will require the approval of 50 Senate Democrats and likely every House Democrat.

The Republican minority overwhelmingly disapproves of the plan they call excessive while the Biden White House and Democrats say it would bring needed investments to child care, climate response, education and more.

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