Call Me 'Congresswoman'

 Call Me 'Congresswoman'

During the debate on Thursday, President Trump referred to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by her initials, as she is commonly known: AOC. According to the congresswoman, however, fellow government officials should not utter that phrase.

In a tweet following the debate, the Democratic representative implied that President Trump and other Republicans are sexist if they do not refer to her by her official government title.

“I wonder if Republicans understand how much they advertise their disrespect of women in debates when they consistently call women members of Congress by nicknames or first names while using titles and last names when referring to men of equal stature.

Women notice. It conveys a lot,” she tweeted.

“AOC is a name given to me by community and the people. Y’all can call me AOC. Government colleagues referring to each other in a public or professional context (aka who don’t know me like that) should refer to their peers as ‘Congresswoman,’ ‘Representative,’ etc. Basic respect 101,” she continued.

Responses to the congresswoman’s tweet were mixed, conservatives pointing out the difference between nicknames and initials and noting that Trump frequently refers to men with more personal names, as well — including calling Joe Biden simply “Joe” — while progressives came to Ocasio-Cortez’s defense.

“AOC is not a nickname, they’re your initials. JFK is also not a nickname. The FBI, again, is not a nickname. You can maybe say that Trump should’ve still used your official title, but Obama was also referenced sans title, and you don’t see him whining about it on Twitter…” tweeted Lauren Chen.