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29 Apr, 2019 06:05

Conway tears into Ocasio-Cortez over ‘silence’ on Sri Lanka attacks in epic Twitter brawl

Conway tears into Ocasio-Cortez over ‘silence’ on Sri Lanka attacks in epic Twitter brawl

Kellyanne Conway and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have traded blows on Twitter after the White House adviser accused the Democratic representative of failing to condemn the attacks on Christian churches in Sri Lanka.

Before the two crossed swords on Twitter, Conway took aim at Ocasio-Cortez while speaking about white nationalism and anti-Semitism shortly after a gunman opened fire inside a synagogue near San Diego, California. She pointed out that the social media-savvy congresswoman was there to condemn the New Zealand mosque attacks but missed out on an opportunity to denounce the Sri Lanka bombings that targeted Christians.

Also on rt.com ‘They are Christians’: Obama & Clinton lambasted for calling bombed Sri Lankans ‘Easter worshipers’

After CNN journalist Julian Zelizer misquoted Conway on Twitter, wrongly stating that she had called out Ocasio-Cortez for not condemning the synagogue shooting, Conway stepped in, unleashing her wrath on both the journalist and the Rep.

“I was referring to @AOC silence about the Sri Lanka massacre of Christians (not “Easter Worshippers” as Obama and Hillary oddly said),” Conway tweeted

Several prominent Democrats, including ex-President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton took heat on social media after they used the term "Easter worshippers” instead of “Christians” to decry a spate of attacks that targeted three Catholic churches on Easter Sunday. Commentators noted that the politicians did not hesitate to use the word “Muslim” when expressing support for the victims of the massacre at mosques in New Zealand.

Responding to Conway’s jab, Ocasio-Cortez quickly went from the defensive into the offensive mode, tweeting that she was unable to post a tweet because she was visiting her grandmother in Puerto Rico, as it was still reeling from “incompetent disaster response” by the Trump administration.

Firing back, she accused Conway of politicizing a tragedy by using it as a pretext to “stoke suspicion” around her Christian beliefs.

Ocasio-Cortez also defended the wording used by Clinton and Obama to denounce the Sri Lanka attacks, arguing that calling Catholic Christians “Easter worshippers” merely highlights the fact they were targeted on Easter, the holiest day of the year in Christianity.

The lawmaker rounded up her Twitter tirade by eventually condemning the Sri Lanka massacre meanwhile managing to evoke the topic of immigration. “No one should be targeted for their religion,” she wrote, adding: “If you’re so moved, let’s do more to welcome immigrants fleeing religious persecution.”

Conway returned the blow, pointing out that Ocasio-Cortez did not forget to tweet about her upcoming Netflix movie the day after the Sri Lanka attacks and took the opportunity to target her opponent’s “extreme ideas” like free medicine and Green New Deal that “scare” her. In the end, Conway appeared to strike a reconciliatory tone, noting that there can be “areas of bipartisanship” where the two might find a common ground. 

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