Ruh-Roh, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Hit With Lawsuits For Blocking Her Biggest Critics On Twitter

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Jul 12, 2019

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is building herself a big ol’ echo chamber over there on Twitter.

The socialist (can we all agree to stop calling them “progressive”? what a misnomer!) congresswoman not only seems to prefer keyboard activism and pontificating to actually doing her job probably has a pretty long list of blocked users on her favorite social media platform.

Now, for the ordinary citizen, that really shouldn’t be a problem. It’s a minor annoyance, for sure, but you can’t (and shouldn’t) be forced to associate with people you don’t want to.

For an elected official, part of whose job is to be accessible to the American people who pay her salary and to her colleagues in Congress, however, it isn’t only cowardly, it may be a violation of the First Amendment.

At least, that’s the basis on which President Trump was barred from blocking his fellow Americans on Twitter. And, much to her shock, I’m sure, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez will be held to the same standard now that a pair of similar lawsuits have been filed against Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, one by a Democrat and one by a Republican.

The Daily Wire reports:

Former New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Democrat, told Fox News on Tuesday of his plans to sue AOC for blocking him and other critics on Twitter.

“I have decided, after speaking with my legal counsel, to initiate a lawsuit against her for blocking me and a host of other public figures,” the Democrat announced in a statement, according to Fox News.

“Ocasio-Cortez is acting cowardly and should be ashamed of her attempts to silence me. I’ve done nothing but address her ignorance and disregard for the truth. She constantly brags about the millions of followers she has but is afraid of my speech,” he continued. “She is a hypocrite.”

Hikind added, “I’m looking forward to the day where she has to unblock me so that free speech in America is guaranteed even when it offends!”

“The complaint seeks an injunction against Ocasio-Cortez, a declaration that she violated the First Amendment, and an award of attorney’s fees,” Fox News reported.

Joey Saladino, a conservative congressional candidate in New York, also announced on Tuesday that he’d be filing his own lawsuit against Ms. Ocasio-Cortez for including him in her Twitter blocking spree.

“Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, or ‘AOC’, blocked Joey ‘Salads’ Saladino shortly after announcing his candidacy for Congress around early May,” Saladino said in a press release. “Political dialogue must occur across regional boundaries within the United States.”

“I’m suing AOC because we need to be able to have a strong and vigorous debate between the parties, otherwise our fragile system of ideas and representation breaks down,” Saladino also said. “Though she is not in a position of power, she is the voice of her generation of Democrat voters, and bigger than some of the Presidential candidates.”

“If we can’t talk to one another, the whole system breaks down,” he declared. “Look what is happening in my district when entrenched NeverTrumpers are confronted by America First ideas. Like it or not we live in the same city and we need to be professional.”

Politics aside, I’m wondering if folks know this easy work-around to see the Twitter activity of someone who has blocked you. Maybe, maybe not.

Here are some of our favorite instances in which AOC slammed that “block” button and got beautifully roasted for it:

What did Ryan Saavedra, one of The Daily Wire’s best, do to wind up on AOC’s block list? Oh, nothing, just produce this little gem:

Liz Wheeler, host of One America News Network’s “Tipping Point,” also found herself blocked by AOC for an equally hilarious fact-check:

This pair of lawsuits (well, just two for now; it’s only Friday) come hot on the heels of a Tuesday appellate court ruling that President Trump is also in violation of the Constitution when he blocks his many, many critics from viewing his tweets.

“Because Mr. Trump uses Twitter to conduct government business, he cannot exclude some Americans from reading his posts — and engaging in conversations in the replies to them — because he does not like their views, a three-judge panel on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, ruled unanimously,” The New York Times reported.

What a shocker—a rule that applies to one elected official applies to all of them.