AOC Mocks Victims of Cancel Culture: They’re Just ‘Unliked’
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tries to reframe leftist censorship
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Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) mocked people who have become victims of the left's evergrowing 'cancel culture,' describing them as being entitled and unliked.
AOC responded to an open letter defending “open debate," to which she attempted to put “cancel culture" in a favorable light.
The term "cancel culture" is used to describe primarily left-wing activists applying censorship to suppress people or ideas they don't agree with.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted:
“People who are actually ‘cancelled’ don’t get their thoughts published and amplified in major outlets. This has been a public service announcement."
“The term ‘cancel culture’ comes from entitlement – as though the person complaining has the right to a large, captive audience,& one is a victim if people choose to tune them out. Odds are you’re not actually cancelled, you’re just being challenged, held accountable, or unliked.”
The term “cancel culture” comes from entitlement - as though the person complaining has the right to a large, captive audience,& one is a victim if people choose to tune them out.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 10, 2020
Odds are you’re not actually cancelled, you’re just being challenged, held accountable, or unliked.
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“I have an entire TV network dedicated to stoking hatred of me. A white supremacist w/ a popular network show regularly distorts me in dangerous ways, & it’s a normal part of my existence to get death threats from their audience."
"You don’t see me complaining abt ‘cancel culture,'” Ocasio-Cortez continued.
“Many of the people actually ‘cancelled’ are those long denied a fair hearing of their ideas to begin w/: Palestinian human rights advocates, Abolitionists, Anticapitalists, Anti-imperialists. Not spicy ‘contrarians’ who want to play devils advocate w/ your basic rights in the NYT.”
Many of the people actually “cancelled” are those long denied a fair hearing of their ideas to begin w/:
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 10, 2020
Palestinian human rights advocates
Abolitionists
Anticapitalists
Anti-imperialists
Not spicy “contrarians” who want to play devils advocate w/ your basic rights in the NYT
But Ocasio-Cortez failed to provide any evidence to back up her claim that “cancel culture” stems “from entitlement."
But while the victims of cancel culture include famous names, some ordinary people have lost their livelihoods due to boycotts being pushed by the left.
Ocasio-Cortez claimed that people who were “canceled” were really “just being challenged, held accountable, or unliked.”
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AOC also accused Fox News, despite not directly naming them, as "dedicated to stoking hatred of” her.
But as many right-leaning unbiased outlets, Fox News often just challenges Ocasio-Cortez's ideas.
Ocasio-Cortez’s faced backlash for her tweets.
Commentator Sasha Stone tweeted:
“This is patently false and easily disproved — we also have a government official here advocating for censorship and shutting down a public letter standing up for free speech and open debate."
“That is hard core overreach.”
This is patently false and easily disproved - we also have a government official here advocating for censorship and shutting down a public letter standing up for free speech and open debate. That is hard core overreach. https://t.co/kdoQWGOxfT
— Sasha Stone (@AwardsDaily) July 10, 2020
“People getting their characters smeared for dangling their hand out the window and losing their job, journalists silenced out of fear of getting fired, a research analyst fired for posting a tweet of a study people didn’t like,” Stone continued.
“You’re doing worse than complaining about cancel culture. You are now advocating for it at a government level, which is dangerous…”
People getting their characters smeared for dangling their hand out the window and losing their job, journalists silenced out of fear of getting fired, a research analyst fired for posting a tweet of a study people didn't like. https://t.co/Lbbmp29aKi
— Sasha Stone (@AwardsDaily) July 10, 2020
You're doing worse than complaining about cancel culture. You are now advocating for it at a government level, which is dangerous... https://t.co/uIXsYUFOKf
— Sasha Stone (@AwardsDaily) July 10, 2020
President Donald Trump called out “cancel culture” in his speech at Mount Rushmore last week:
Angry mobs are trying to tear down statues of our Founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities. Many of these people have no idea why they are doing this, but some know exactly what they are doing. They think the American people are weak and soft and submissive. But no, the American people are strong and proud, and they will not allow our country, and all of its values, history, and culture, to be taken from them. .
One of their political weapons is “Cancel Culture” — driving people from their jobs, shaming dissenters, and demanding total submission from anyone who disagrees. This is the very definition of totalitarianism, and it is completely alien to our culture and our values, and it has absolutely no place in the United States of America. This attack on our liberty, our magnificent liberty, must be stopped, and it will be stopped very quickly. We will expose this dangerous movement, protect our nation’s children, end this radical assault, and preserve our beloved American way of life.
AOC's comments come after a slew of left-leaning figures signed a letter from Harper’s Magazine on “Justice and Open Debate.”
