GOP Candidate Filmed Joking About AOC Harassment With Young Son

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Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

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Arizona Republican congressional candidate Josh Barnett has reenacted sexual harassment against New York's Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in front of his son while at a Walmart.

In a video Barnett published on his TikTok channel, which has just 226 followers, he can be seen at a Walmart self-check out telling his son "Look, it's my favorite big booty Latina" while pointing at a woman who's busy packing up groceries.

Barnett is running in the GOP primary for Arizona's congressional district one in August.

Those same words —"my favorite big booty Latina"— were used by social media personality and self-described "professional troll" Alex Stein, who filmed himself verbally sexually harassing Ocasio-Cortez while she was on her way in to the Capitol earlier this month.

AOC immediately spoke out against the sexual harassment and the lack of prevention to avoid congresswomen from being the targets of such sexist remarks while on their way to work.

Barnett's video shows him making fun of the incident against a soundtrack of cheesy "Mexican Hat Dance" music, with the woman who is the target of his comments waving him off and then shaking her head in dismissal while Barnett's son can be seen laughing.

"Look how sexy she looks in those pants," Barnett says in the video, mirroring the remarks of AOC's harasser.

@barnettforcongress

♬ Jarabe Tapatio - (Mexican Hat Dance) - Sr Ortegon

As the video was then shared on Twitter and users responded with outrage to a grown man teaching his son how to sexually harass women, Barnett said the woman in the video was his fiancee Bella, whom he added he treats "as my wife."

Newsweek reached out to Barnett for comment.

In a video published after the backlash his TikTok clip received, Barnett defended his reenactment at Walmart saying he still thought it was "funny."

"All these stupid liberals who have no idea what they're talking about were like 'I can't believe you teach your son to treat women that way!' It's his mom. These people are ridiculous," he said.

Addressing accusations of being racist, he defended himself by saying that his girlfriend is Mexican and his son half-Mexican.

The video did not appease Barnett's critics, who kept questioning what values the Republican candidate is passing on to his son by teaching him to sexualize his mom.

"Oh okay, so it's okay to teach the kid to objectify women, as long as it's his mom?! Yikes!!," one user responded.

Barnett will face rival Republican candidates David Schweikert and Elijah Norton at the primary which will be held on August 2.

AOC
A GOP candidate has reenacted the sexual harassment against AOC committed by a man outside the Capitol a few weeks ago. In this photo, Ocasio-Cortez takes selfie with reproductive rights advocates after a press event... Alex Wong/Getty Images
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About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

Writers Page

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more