Matt Walsh, a host for conservative Ben Shapiro’s news outlet the Daily Wire, recently revealed in a tweet that he had launched a GoFundMe campaign to help a particular congresswoman’s relative. While it appears to be trolling a donation campaign that was set up earlier, the conservative went after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and appeared to be trolling by doing much more to help her ‘abuela’ than her.
It started when the New York congresswoman posted photos of her home that was damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017. She wrote that she was traveling to Puerto Rico to visit her sick grandmother and took pictures of the dilapidated conditions reported by the hurricane.
“Just over a week ago, my Abuela fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID. This is her home. “Hurricane María relief hasn’t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR. People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, & developers are taking them,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
She went on to write that they must immediately work with community advocates and leaders to ‘follow the money.’ She said that what was happening to Puerto Ricans was systemic and that much it can be traced to La Junta, the Wall Street-connected fiscal control board that the US gave power to over the island.
AOC accused the Trump Administration of overseeing millions in public funds being handed to ‘unqualified donor pals’ and said that it imposes difficult eligibility rules for Puerto Ricans. She wrote that while the Trump admin had a major role that it wasn’t just them. She said that La Junta’s local policies were all on the same page and “pushed out local families” across the island.
But the photo was met with harsh backlash after people highlighted AOC’s mistreatment of her own grandmother and her living conditions. Walsh accused AOC of failing to financially support her grandmother in the wake of a nearly-4-year-old disaster. He wrote that it was shameful she lives in luxury while allowing her own grandmother to suffer in ‘squalid conditions.’
A Republican candidate running for office in Florida, Lavern Spicer, pointed out that she drives a Tesla and has two apartments. “If your grandmother is living poor that’s because you didn’t help her out. I’m surprised that a socialist wouldn’t redistribute that wealth to their grandma,” she wrote.
Critics of AOC pointed out that her salary, which is roughly $174,000 a year, would be more than enough to fix her grandmother’s home and that is “literally what family does for one another.” But it was all about pushing a message to blame former president Donald Trump for just one more thing…in traditional Dem fashion.
Ocasio-Cortez tried to argue back against Walsh and that he doesn’t “even have a concept for the role that 1st-gen, first-born daughters play in their families” and tried to say that she was calling attention to the ‘systemic injustices’ in having a U.S colony. AOC sure does love a good label and some word salad.
Walsh took it upon himself to launch a GoFundMe campaign for the cost to repair AOC’s grandma’s house and has raised over $100,000. He kicked off the campaign with a $499 donation and wrote that “One cannot be certain of the cost to repair grandma’s house, but surely most of the work could be completed for the price of AOC’s shiny Tesla Model 3,” and, as of Saturday morning, has received over $104,153 in donations.
It’s not the government’s responsibility to fix or maintain a home, Sure they can offer temporary housing or low-interest rate loans, but the nature of the situation makes you question…Why did her family not help her out?
