AOC fires back after GOP Rep Kat Cammack accuses Democrats of getting drunk during speaker debacle: ‘If only!’

Rep Cammack’s speech fails to rally Republicans around Kevin McCarthy

Eric Garcia
Wednesday 04 January 2023 23:31 GMT
Comments
Representative Kat Cammack accuses Democrats of bringing alcohol to House floor

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez knocked down accusations from Republican Representative Kat Cammack of Florida after she claimed Democrats were drinking during their vote to nominate a speaker of the House of Representatives.

Ms Cammack delivered a speech to nominate Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy to be speaker and said that Republicans are more willing to have open debate than Democrats. She also said Democrats behaved improperly during the vote.

“Diversity of thought is a good thing,” she said. “But they want us divided. They want us to fight each other. That much has been made clear by the popcorn and blankets and alcohol that has come in over there.”

The remarks led to jeers from the Democratic side, which led Ms Cammack to say the House was not in order and the clerk to gavel in the chamber. Democrars also reportedly called to “take down her words” from the official record, Punchbowl News reported.

“The clerk would ask that all members-elect abide by the established decorum while making nominations,” the clerk said.

But Ms Ocasio-Cortez, the self-described democratic socialist from New York, responded that was not the case.

“If only! If Dems took a shot every time McCarthy lost a Republican, we’d all be unconscious by now,” she tweeted. In addition, in response to a tweet, she said that alcohol flowed more freely in past Congresses.

“Fun fact: Way back in the day there used to be large wooden boxes in the cloakroom for members to stash their flasks and bottles before walking onto the floor. The boxes were preserved and are now kept in the Library of Congress!” she tweeted.

Republicans have so far failed to nominate a new speaker after six votes throughout the past two days. The House adjourned for three hours so Republicans can come to a consensus on who to nominate for speaker.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in