Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's viral speech

A few hours ago Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez turned her response to the offences received from a Republican colleague, Senator Ted Yoho, into a statement denouncing the sexist culture that accepts violence and violent language against women and that includes President Trump among its too many followers.

It all started on the Capitol Hill steps on Monday. Yoho approached Ocasio-Cortez and attacked her for saying that part of the increase in crime during the coronavirus pandemic could be attributed to rising unemployment and poverty. Reportedly, the Senator, in front of a Hill reporter, called her disgusting, insane, dangerous and fucking bitch. Shortly afterwards, the Congressman issued non-excuses in which, without ever directly citing his political opponent, he said he had used an excessively aggressive tone with a colleague, although he had not used the filthy language, being a family man, married for 45 years. This is an unacceptable justification for Alexandria, who has always been at the forefront of women's rights and who, in her ten-minute speech in Congress, replied with direct and powerful words: 

This issue is not about one incident. It is a culture of impunity, of accepting of violence and violent language against women, and an entire structure of power that supports that. I believe having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man. And when a decent man messes up, as we are all bound to do, he tries his best and does apologize. 

This is not the first time the Democratic has challenged the sexist culture in charge. She had already done so by supporting the protests of American Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a jurist very close to Donald Trump accused of assaulting several women. She also recently joined, in support of the Black Lives Matter, the protests following George Floyd's murder, distributing masks to protesters. 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, born in 1989 to an American father and Puerto Rican mother, grew up in the Bronx, New York. Defeating Republican opponent Anthony Pappas she became the youngest woman ever elected to the United States Congress at the age of 29. Until a few months earlier, she was almost a nobody. At the Democratic primaries in New York's 14th district she presented herself as an outsider, with a video that went viral starting with this phrase:

Women like me aren't supposed to run for office. I wasn't born to a wealthy family or powerful family; mother from Puerto Rico, dad from the South Bronx. I was born in a place where your ZIP code determines your destiny. 

Since then her rise was unstoppable and Alexandria became one of the most famous politicians in the world.

She describes herself as a socialist, a progressive thinker and fights, among other causes, for the abolition of Ice (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the federal agency responsible for border control; to ensure an acceptable quality of life for the poorer classes with the extension of the Medicare program, the introduction of a minimum wage of $15 per hour, free education and the right to housing; supports the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community; proposes more restrictions on the possession of weapons; fights for the legalization of marijuana and for the United States to become more eco-friendly.