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New York lawmakers have some to the defense of congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez following a report which claims that her fellow democrats are avoiding her while they plan to combat the coronavirus.
The report from the New York Post claims that Cortez's peers are ignoring her over fears she will overshadow the work they are doing to combat the virus in an area with one of the highest infection rates in the entire world.
The report, based on unnamed sources, claims that Ocasio-Cortez "simply rubs many of her fellow New York Democrats the wrong way."
Ocasio-Cortez has become one the most well known politicians in all of the U.S. since her shock victory over Joe Crowley in the Democratic primary of New York's 14th congressional district in 2017 when she was just 28-years-old.
Her frequent and outspoken views, sometimes against her own party, has seen her gain nearly seven million followers on Twitter.
"They are not looking to work with her and they want nothing to do with her," one anonymous source told The Post.
"She hasn't made many friends in the delegation," a staffer in another New York representative's office added.
The report also notes that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not name Ocasio-Cortez while announcing an initiative to use churches as testing centers or when when calling for lawmakers to support legislation protecting workers who have lost their job amid the outbreak.
New York Rep. Grace Meng has now defended Ocasio-Cortez while denying the claims in the report.
"Respectfully, this is inaccurate from my experience," Meng tweeted. "I've personally been on multiple calls/texts w/ @AOC—from calls w/our local hospitals to calls w/ NY delegation & @NYGovCuomo to organizing food and PPE deliveries.
"And if & when we're not invited, we get it done anyways," Meng added.
Congressman Jerry Nadler also tweeted to say that he "100%" agrees with Meng's defense of Ocasio-Cortez.
"@AOC has been an active + important part of the delegation's response to COVID19," Nadler added.
"From organizing calls about healthcare discrimination to leading calls for aid to tenants, we have stood shoulder to shoulder working together to fight for New York."
Ocasio-Cortez's spokeswoman Lauren Hitt issued a statement denying that she has not been involved with the coronavirus relief plan.
"The Congresswoman has been in touch directly with the Governor since the crisis began. Over several phone calls, most recently this Monday, she has offered personally to assist him with state efforts in our district," Hitt told The Post.
"We work very regularly with other members of the NY delegation around COVID-19."
Ocasio-Cortez has been contacted for further comment.
There are more than 338,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York, with at least 27,641 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University.
A total of 59,641 people have managed to recover from the virus in the state.
This graph from Statista shows the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases by U.S. state as of May 14.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more