Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) fired back Monday evening at Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in a war of words over immigration.
Ocasio-Cortez was responding to a tweet from Graham telling her to “take a tour of the Holocaust Museum” after she compared Central American migrants to Jewish families fleeing Nazi Germany.
“This administration has jailed children and violated human rights. Perhaps we should stop pretending that authoritarianism + violence is a historical event instead of a growing force,” she tweeted. Earlier Monday, Graham tore into Ocasio-Cortez for comparing Central American migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border to Jews fleeing the Holocaust.
“I recommend she take a tour of the Holocaust Museum in DC,” Graham tweeted. “Might help her better understand the differences between the Holocaust and the caravan in Tijuana.” His comment was in response to a Sunday tweet in which the incoming lawmaker wrote: “Asking to be considered a refugee & applying for status isn’t a crime.”
“It wasn’t for Jewish families fleeing Germany,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “It wasn’t for targeted families fleeing Rwanda. It wasn’t for communities fleeing war-torn Syria. And it isn’t for those fleeing violence in Central America.” The exchange of jabs comes after reports that U.S. authorities on Sunday used tear gas on hundreds of migrants attempting to charge the U.S.-Mexico border near Tijuana.
Ocasio-Cortez later added another jab at Graham, in an apparent reference to Graham joking in October that it would be “terrible” if he was found to have Iranian heritage. She suggested he visit the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture.
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