Reprinted with permission from AlterNet

Almost three years after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York City was first sworn into Congress, far-right Republicans continue to be obsessed with the progressive Democratic congresswoman — and many of their attacks on her fall painfully flat. A case in point: Republicans playing “gotcha!” in response to a new photo of a maskless AOC drinking outside during a visit to Miami.

People who aren’t regular consumers of right-wing media, upon seeing the photo that’s supposed to inspire outrage, are likely to respond, “So what?” A New York Post tweet reads, “AOC pictured dining maskless in Miami Beach as Omicron cases soar.”

The implication, evidently, is that Ocasio-Cortez isn’t practicing COVID-19 safety even though she has been an outspoken proponent of vaccines, masks and social distancing precautions. But AOC, in that photo, is outside in the open air and several feet apart from the person she was dining or drinking with. AOC never called for 24/7 isolation and ceasing all human contact in response to the pandemic.

The Washington Post’s David Weigel found the right-wing non-issue puzzling, and The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson found it to be just plain “dumb.”

Far-right Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office posted:

AOC responded:

Here are some more responses to the far-right’s latest anti-AOC attack: