Politics

Ocasio-Cortez Accuses Nancy Mace, Who Said She Was Raped At 16, Of Minimizing Survivors’ Trauma

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• Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, who has said she is a survivor of rape, of trying to “minimize” the experiences of survivors.
• Mace had criticized media for implying insurrectionists stormed the hallway where both Mace’s and Ocasio-Cortez’s offices are located.
• Mace told lawmakers in May 2019 that she had been raped as a 16-year-old, successfully citing her experiences as reasons to include exceptions for rape and incest in pro-life legislation. 

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Wednesday that Republican South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace, who has said she is a survivor of rape, tried to “minimize” the experiences of survivors by downplaying Ocasio-Cortez’s story about the Capitol riot.

Ocasio-Cortez lashed out at Mace after the South Carolina congresswoman criticized the media for implying insurrectionists stormed the hallway where both Mace’s and Ocasio-Cortez’s offices are located.

Mace called out media, including Newsweek, for reporting that rioters were banging on Ocasio-Cortez’s door, noting that Ocasio-Cortez did not know who was knocking on her door and later discovered that it was merely a Capitol Police officer.

“Wild that @NancyMace is discrediting herself less than 1 mo in office w/ such dishonest attacks,” the New York Democrat tweeted, noting that Mace went on the record saying that she barricaded her office in fear during the rioting.

This is where the true damage of what @NancyMace is doing comes in.

How many survivors are watching her? Who now, seeing her, won’t get care or will feel further shame or silence? Who won’t speak up bc they know there are voices in leadership ready to minimize their experiences?

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 4, 2021

“How many survivors are watching her,” she continued. “Who now, seeing her, won’t get care or will feel further shame or silence? Who won’t speak up bc they know there are voices in leadership ready to minimize their experiences?”

Mace struck back at Ocasio-Cortez, accusing her of “saying I don’t ‘hear’ victims of assault — ME, of all people.”

“You don’t know my story,” Mace tweeted, telling the New York Democrat to “just stop it.”

Mace told lawmakers in May 2019 that she had been raped as a 16-year-old, citing her experiences as reasons to include exceptions for rape and incest in pro-life legislation, the Post and Courier reported.

“I’m not going to discount the trauma that we each experienced,” Mace said later on Fox News. “But we need to be factual when we describe what happened.”

Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly described fearing for her life during the Jan. 6 riot. In a Monday evening Instagram Live video, she said she hid in her office bathroom after hearing loud banging and shouting.

She described her fears at length before revealing that it was not rioters but a Capitol Police officer who entered her office. Multiple news outlets would inaccurately report that rioters entered Ocasio-Cortez’s office before deleting or editing these reports. Newsweek issued a correction clarifying the error.

“I thought I was going to die,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I have never been quieter in my entire life.”

Critics pointed out that her office is not in the United States Capitol building which rioters stormed that day. Her office is instead located a short distance from the Capitol in the Cannon office building, which is included in the Capitol complex.

Neither congresswoman has responded to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.