Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) explained why she believes “virtually every policy” that President Donald Trump pursues is actually a ruse to “personally enrich himself & his friends” ― and how racism works “as the cover for the con” because “corruption isn’t popular policy.”
“It’s always about the con,” she wrote Tuesday on Twitter in a thread that’s now going viral.
“That’s why addressing racism isn’t a ‘distraction,’” Ocasio-Cortez explained. “It’s key to understanding the hustle against working people.”
Check out the full thread here:
Virtually every policy Trump pursues works to steal public money & personally enrich himself & his friends.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019
💰Gutting National Monuments pays ➡️ Fossil Fuel CEOs
💰Border concentration camps pay ➡️ Private Prison CEOs
💰Betsy DeVos pays ➡️ loan sharks
It’s always about the con. https://t.co/ggINFg52Kw
Since corruption isn’t popular policy, racism works as the cover for the con. That’s why addressing racism isn’t a “distraction” - it’s key to understanding the hustle against working people.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019
Culturally, racism is used as the unspoken cudgel against pro-working class policy. /2
For example:
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019
By rallying support for super racist immigration policies, (Muslim Ban, concentration camps,etc), supporters look the other way at the billions of public dollars going to private prison CEOs - who then kick some that 💰 back to Trump (ex. his inaugural committee)
/3
The corruption of Trump - of many admins - wouldn’t be politically possible without relying on sympathy for racist policies.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019
That’s what Reagan’s Black “welfare queen” was all about, too.
If people think they’re “paying for someone else,” they’ll dismantle their own healthcare.
Beyond the moral wrong, racism is a powerful political tool used to dismantle public goods & civil rights.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019
So long as bigoted sympathies exist (subtly or loud), they will be used. That’s why convincing people racism is a sidenote,¬ broad or institutional, is a strategic move.
Ocasio-Cortez had earlier used a separate thread to call out the Trump administration for “grinding legal, documented immigration to a halt.”
Some anti-immigrant folks like to say: “We’re not against immigration, we’re against “illegal” immigration.”
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019
If that were true, then we would make documented immigration easy & safe.
But each & every day, this administration is grinding legal, documented immigration to a halt. https://t.co/1YOimdaCK8
About 1/2 of all the cases I see at work are immigration related. Many are people who‘ve been on the path to citizenship for years.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019
Steps that are supposed to be ~30 days are taking up to a year. Some, like work authorizations, are so delayed they’re forcing people out of jobs.
If people were actually concerned about undocumented people, the clear solution would be to offer documentation. It’s safer & secure for everyone.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 3, 2019
But there is no “law & order” in an immigration system of sheer chaos, where rules change every day for the sole goal of exclusion.
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