It doesn’t take much to embarrass Democrats. And once you do, they get fuming mad.
Now a Republican lawmaker smacked down a smug Democrat with one exposing photo.
New York Lawmaker Questions Ocasio-Cortez’s Bronx Roots
New York, NY – State Assemblyman Matt Slater (R-Yorktown) on Tuesday challenged Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s description of herself as a “Bronx girl” during a social media dispute with President Trump, pointing to her upbringing in Westchester County.
The exchange occurred as Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, criticized Trump’s decision to approve Iran airstrikes without congressional approval, prompting a response from Slater.
Slater shared a yearbook photo of Ocasio-Cortez as a high school freshman in suburban Yorktown, located about a 40-minute drive from the Bronx.
The move came after Trump labeled Ocasio-Cortez “one of the ‘dumbest’ people in Congress,” leading her to tweet, “Also, I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully,” referencing Trump’s Queens background.
Slater Highlights Ocasio-Cortez’s Yorktown Ties
Slater, a senior when Ocasio-Cortez was a freshman, used the yearbook image to question her Bronx identity, noting her attendance at Yorktown public schools, including Yorktown High School. “If you’re a BX girl then why are you in my Yorktown yearbook? Give it up already,” he tweeted.
In a statement to the New York Post, Slater called the “AOC-Bronx mythology laughable” to the approximately 36,000 residents of the Westchester community, adding, “The truth is AOC is Sandy Cortez who went to Yorktown High School and lived at the corner of Friends Road and Longvue Street.”
He suggested her Bronx narrative might be an attempt to project toughness or align with the radical left, including supporters of mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
Ocasio-Cortez, 35, has faced scrutiny over her suburban roots since her 2018 upset victory over incumbent Joe Crowley, during which she emphasized her Bronx connections.
She told Late Night host Stephen Colbert during Trump’s first term, “I don’t think he knows how to deal with a girl from the Bronx.”
Records show Ocasio-Cortez’s family moved to a modest Yorktown home when she was about 5 years old for better schools, according to a past New York Times article.
She graduated from Yorktown High School in 2007, and the family home was sold in 2016, with her listed as a resident at the time, per a previous Journal News story.
Ocasio-Cortez Defends Her Background
Ocasio-Cortez has addressed the criticism by framing her Yorktown experience as a lens on social disparities. “It is nice. Growing up, it was a good town for working people,” she tweeted in 2018. “My mom scrubbed toilets so I could live here & I grew up seeing how the zip code one is born in determines much of their opportunity.”
A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez pointed to her biography, which notes her birth in the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx before the move to Yorktown, and mentions regular childhood visits to the Bronx to see extended family.
