AOC Hits Back at 'Patronizing' Joe Manchin For Calling Her 'Young Lady'

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has hit back at Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), questioning his "patronizing behavior" after he referred to her as a "young lady."

Manchin made the remark while responding to the New York congresswoman's claim that he has weekly "huddles" with Exxon and suggesting he allows lobbyists to write "so-called 'bipartisan' fossil fuel bills."

Asked about this during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, Manchin insisted the claim was "totally false."

"I keep my door open for everybody. It's totally false," he told Dana Bash. "And those types of superlatives, it's just awful. Continue to divide, divide, divide."

Referring to Ocasio-Cortez, Manchin continued: "I don't know the young lady that well. I really don't.

"I have met her one time, I think, between sets here. But that's it. So we have not had any conversations. She's just speculating and saying things because she wants to."

Ocasio-Cortez responded to Manchin's remarks in tweets on Sunday night.

"In Washington, I usually know my questions of power are getting somewhere when the powerful stop referring to me as 'Congresswoman' and start referring to me as 'young lady' instead," she wrote.

In another tweet, she added: "Imagine if every time someone referred to someone as 'young lady' they were ask [sic] responded to by being addressed with their age and gender? They'd be pretty upset if one responded with 'the old man,' right? Why this kind of weird, patronizing behavior is so accepted is beyond me!"

Ocasio-Cortez had tweeted about Manchin earlier in September in response to an op-ed he wrote about why he will not support President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion plan for social and environmental spending.

Manchin's support for the reconciliation bill is crucial since the Senate is split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to act as a tiebreaker.

"Manchin has weekly huddles w/ Exxon & is one of many senators who gives lobbyists their pen to write so-called 'bipartisan' fossil fuel bills," Ocasio-Cortez wrote earlier this month, in response to his Wall Street Journal op-ed.

"It's killing people. Our people. At least 12 last night. Sick of this 'bipartisan' corruption that masquerades as clear-eyed moderation."

On CNN on Sunday, Bash noted that Ocasio-Cortez was not the only Democrat to claim Manchin's opposition to the bill was because he was "bought and paid for by corporate donors."

Manchin shot back: "I'm opposed to it because it makes no sense at all."

Ocasio-Cortez and Manchin's representatives have been contacted for comment.