Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Defends Using Gas Stove After Backlash

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended her stance on gas stoves on Thursday after critics pointed out that she has one in her own kitchen.

The New York Democrat took some heat for a post she wrote earlier this week following the news that a federal agency is considering a gas stove ban. Childhood asthma and other adverse health effects have been linked to indoor air pollutants emitted from the stoves.

Critics began blasting Ocasio-Cortez after she tweeted on Tuesday: "Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance."

This week, conservatives adopted the rallying cry "save the stoves," with some pointing to what they see as Democrats' hypocrisy. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, for instance, tweeted a 2020 photo of first lady Jill Biden cooking on a gas stove. Representative Ronny Jackson, another Republican from Texas, vowed that the "maniacs in the White House" would have to pry the appliance from his "cold dead hands."

Ocasio-Cortez's comments on Twitter about the hot button issue attracted plenty of conservative critics. Soon, some dug up some old social media posts that show a gas stove in the Democrat's apartment. The National Review said Thursday that an Instagram video shows a gas stove in the background while Ocasio-Cortez dips her face into an ice-water-filled bowl.

When the lawmaker noted in her Tuesday tweet that NO2 emissions have been linked to brain damage, one social media user replied with a photo of her standing next to a gas stove. The caption reads: "I'm certain you're right."

Regardless, Ocasio-Cortez has done her best to defend herself against what she called an "absolute utter Republican meltdown."

"First of all, I rent. Period," she said in a video posted to Instagram Stories on Thursday. "Second of all, though, it doesn't even matter, because by that logic these are the same people who would have said we should have never gotten rid of leaded gasoline just because someone may have driven a gasoline car."

She continued: "Science evolves and gives us new knowledge with time. There is very concerning science about some of the emissions from gas stoves, especially around the cognitive development of young children, asthma, cancer, etcetera.

"This is about a decision about what may be sold and regulations in the far future, OK? So everyone, just take the temperature down a little bit. No secret government agency is going to bust down your door and take your gas stove away," she said.

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez told Newsweek that the congresswoman had "nothing to add" beyond what she said in the video.

Updated 1/13/2023, 5:30 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with comment from a spokesperson for Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.