Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is becoming notorious for “slactivism” – she says a lot but does little.
She made it clear when she refused to help her grandmother in Puerto Rico after a hurricane.
Now Ocasio-Cortez’s “abuela” could be getting an interesting call from the GOP.
Just over a year ago, Democrat “Squad” member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) took to Twitter after visiting her “Abuela” (Spanish for “grandmother”) in Puerto Rico and shared pictures of the disrepair her grandmother’s home was in after a 2017 hurricane.
Maddeningly AOC herself not only used her own grandmother to score cheap political points—and did it while she refused to help her — but she actually got a GoFundMe shutdown that was set up by Conservative commentator Matt Walsh to help.
.@MattWalshBlog on his viral GoFundMe to 'Save AOC's Abuela's Ancestral Home:'
"Thank you for giving me the chance to talk about my philanthropy." pic.twitter.com/Epysy5khqv
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 8, 2021
Instead she blamed former President Donald Trump when the reality is Democrats have done an embarrassing job since they’ve been in charge of both the Executive and Legislative branches of government.
And everyone – including the Hispanic population – knows that.
It’s among the many reasons the GOP looks set to reap rewards in November with tons of momentum heading into the 2022 Midterms.
And now, the Republican Party is making an interesting investment to capitalize on this surprising trend.
For decades, the establishment wing of the GOP maintained for Republicans to stay relevant as a national party.
They’d have to compromise on illegal immigration in order to simply dig into the Democrats massive lead with the Hispanic voting bloc.
It was one of their primary concerns with Donald Trump and his America-First agenda.
“Trump’s racist rhetoric and policies will keep Hispanics from voting Republican for generations,” they cried.
How wrong they were.
Under President Donald Trump, the GOP enjoyed an uptick in Hispanic support, while pushing for border security and fair legal immigration policies.
Back in 2012, according to Pew Research Center, then-incumbent President Barack Obama won 71% of the Hispanic vote, compared to just 27% for Mitt Romney.
After more than a year of Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney and the corporate-controlled media calling him a racist, then-candidate Donald Trump actually closed the Hispanic voting gap from +44 for the Democrats in 2012 to +38 for Democrats in 2016.
Still a huge advantage for the blue party, but a 6-point uptick for the GOP.
And after four-years of Trump immigration policies, Republicans fared even better with Hispanic voters.
In 2020, Pew reported Joe Biden won 59% of the Hispanic vote, compared to 38% for Trump.
That’s another 17-point swing towards the red team.
And in the lead up to the 2022 Midterm elections, a Quinnipiac University poll found that just 26% of Hispanic voters approved of President Biden’s job performance.
Survey-after-survey confirms these findings.
Meanwhile, in mid-June, Republican Mayra Flores won a special election for a Congressional seat in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas – a long-term stronghold for Democrats.
The GOP is eager to seize the moment and continue making the Hispanic voting bloc a swing voting sector.
To that end, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is investing some of its war chest into expanding engagement in minority communities.
As part of that effort, the RNC is teaching legal immigrants about civics ahead of their naturalization tests.
The first of the “Republican Civics Initiative” training course launched last Thursday in Doral, Florida, at the RNC Hispanic Community Center, AXIOS reported.
The “Republican Civics Initiative,” will offer a 10-hour course to permanent legal residents seeking citizenship.
“Lawful permanent residents will learn basic U.S. civics and history based on questions that could appear on the civics portion of the naturalization test like ‘When was the Declaration of Independence signed?’ and ‘How many branches of government are there?’” an RNC press release read.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the committee is growing the Republican Party “through purposeful education and engagement.”
“Our commitment to provide opportunities for all to live out the American dream is broadening our base because our ideas transcend all backgrounds,” McDaniel said.
And McDaniel also got in one dig at the Democrat Party – and by extension frauds like Sany Cortez.
“Unlike Democrats, Republicans do not take minority communities for granted and we will continue to work to earn each vote ahead of November.”
Perhaps the Republican National Committee could bring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “abuela” in as a consultant.
Political Animal News will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
