Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s abuela just can’t get a break.
Just Tuesday, the New York Democrat informed us that her grandmother had been living in squalor in Puerto Rico after her house was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Apparently, her granddaughter wasn’t willing to help her rebuild her roof, but was more than willing to post pictures of the conditions it was in. Then, when the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh called AOC out on it, the congresswoman said that her abuela was fine and that Walsh didn’t understand the roles that a first-generation, first-born daughter plays in an immigrant family.
If the cultural roles meant that her grandmother couldn’t accept money from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, fine — Walsh would put together a GoFundMe campaign so that others chip in to fix the roof. Conservatives raised over $100,000 for the cause, well more than the $48,990 goal.
And then GoFundMe shut it down.
Walsh tweeted Saturday that, since Ocasio-Cortez’s family had apparently told the crowdfunding platform it wouldn’t be accepting the money, the fundraiser was being paused.
“UPDATE: ‘someone’ in AOC’s abuela’s family told GoFundMe that she won’t take the money, even though AOC previously claimed that her grandma was in dire straits (and it was Trump’s fault),” Walsh tweeted.
“@AOC still hasn’t acknowledged this effort or thanked us. Here’s the email from GoFundMe.”
UPDATE: “someone” in AOC’s abuela’s family told GoFundMe that she won’t take the money, even though AOC previously claimed that her grandma was in dire straits (and it was Trump’s fault). @AOC still hasn’t acknowledged this effort or thanked us. Here’s the email from GoFundMe: pic.twitter.com/MsM4ECLDX0
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 5, 2021
Just a reminder of how we got here: On Tuesday, AOC posted pictures of her grandmother’s home for the purposes of blaming, in part, former President Donald Trump for the mess.
Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID.
This is her home. Hurricane María relief hasn’t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR.
People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, & developers are taking them. pic.twitter.com/wnRxLalA2D
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 2, 2021
“Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID. This is her home. Hurricane María relief hasn’t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR. People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, & developers are taking them,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
This turned quite a few heads since AOC recently acquired a Tesla Model 3 (not a cheap car) and lives in a luxury apartment in Washington on a congresswoman’s salary of $174,000 a year.
Walsh and many others called her on the hypocrisy.
“Shameful that you live in luxury while allowing your own grandmother to suffer in these squalid conditions,” Walsh wrote in a Twitter post, which prompted this rejoinder from AOC:
You don’t even have a concept for the role that 1st-gen, first-born daughters play in their families.
My abuela is okay. But instead of only caring for mine & letting others suffer, I’m calling attention to the systemic injustices you seem totally fine w/ in having a US colony. https://t.co/QN0ZVoyDt2
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 2, 2021
“You don’t even have a concept for the role that 1st-gen, first-born daughters play in their families,” she wrote.
“My abuela is okay. But instead of only caring for mine & letting others suffer, I’m calling attention to the systemic injustices you seem totally fine w/ in having a US colony.”
Well, if Ocasio-Cortez is beholden by cultural strictures that make her unable to pay for her grandmother’s roof in Puerto Rico, Walsh was more than willing to step up.
“One cannot be certain of the cost to repair grandma’s house, but surely most of the work could be completed for the price of AOC’s shiny Tesla Model 3,” Walsh wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“As AOC pointed out to us, we ‘don’t even have a concept for the role that [incredibly successful children of two American citizens…] play in their families,’ but clearly caring for their own grandparent isn’t part of it.”
“Sadly, virtue-signaling isn’t going to fix abuela’s roof. So we are,” he continued.
“Let’s all kick in to help save AOC’s abuela’s ancestral home. Any amount is appreciated, but the cost of a monthly lease payment on that Tesla is around $499…”
There were enough people willing to chip in to help AOC’s abuela that $104,153 was collected before Walsh was informed the Ocasio-Cortez family wouldn’t be accepting the money — an insult to the donors.
“Tragically this charitable effort has been sabotaged by forces outside of our control. Still I’m grateful for the outpouring of support for abuela, even if AOC isn’t,” Walsh tweeted.
“But questions remain: Why didn’t AOC help her own abuela? Why was our help turned down? We are left to speculate.”
Tragically this charitable effort has been sabotaged by forces outside of our control. Still I’m grateful for the outpouring of support for abuela, even if AOC isn’t. But questions remain: Why didn’t AOC help her own abuela? Why was our help turned down? We are left to speculate.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) June 5, 2021
“In the end, our campaign raised 100 thousand dollars and could have solved a problem in ten hours that AOC couldn’t solve in four years. We can all be proud of that,” Walsh concluded. “As for abuela, all we can do now is pray.”
Supplication is apparently more than AOC is willing to do for her grandmother. She’ll dutifully keep her role as a “1st-gen, first-born daughter” and not intervene in her grandmother’s suffering. The family also won’t accept the money — either to fix the roof or to donate it to charity. (That’s the unbelievable part — just imagine this going to a liberal non-profit. They wouldn’t even do that much.)
Instead, AOC’s abuela will struggle on providing a valuable prop to her granddaughter. It’s a small sacrifice to pay, I’m sure she’ll agree.
Story cited here.
