AOC hits out at ‘clickbait’ Republicans posing with ‘guns in front of Christmas trees’

Comment was made along with a video of Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s accomplishments during 2021

US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made waves when she posted a video outlining her accomplishments during 2021. She also used the opportunity to take a swipe at Republicans using their children – and their guns – as culture war props ahead of the Christmas holiday.

On Wednesday, Ms Ocasio-Cortez posted a video that highlighted the accomplishments of her and her team throughout 2021. The video garnered attention online, particularly after an Atlantic writer, Molly Jong-Fast, pointed out that it was “smart” and something “every congressperson and senator” should do.

After Ms Jong-Fast made the post, Ms Ocasio-Cortez retweeted it and took a shot at Republicans who have been posing with their children and guns in photos ostensibly meant to be Christmas greetings.

“Instead of clickbait with guns in front of Christmas trees, we decided to actually tell you what we accomplished for the community and country this year,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

Earlier this month, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky tweeted a photo of himself and his family smiling while holding a small arsenal of rifles, including an M60 machine gun. The family is gathered in front of a Christmas tree.

Mr Massie captioned the photo with his wish for Santa Claus to “please bring ammo”.

Some members of the public found the photo to be in poor taste as it was posted only four days after Ethan Crumbley allegedly shot and killed four of his classmates and injured seven others at his high school in Michigan.

The backlash to the photo was quickly incorporated into the conservative culture war, which prompted extreme-right Representative Lauren Boebert to post her own version of Mr Massie's photo.

Like Mr Massie's, Ms Boebert's photo include her with each of her children holding a firearm infront of their Christmas tree. She captioned the photo with “The Boeberts have your six, @RepThomasMassie!”

Ms Boebert previously drew criticism when she attended a remote committee meeting with guns haphazardly placed on a shelf behind her head.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez criticised the photos at the time, pointing out that brandishing firearms is not indicative of the values traditionally associated with Christmas.

“Tell me again where Christ said ‘use the commemoration of my birth to flex violent weapons for personal political gain’?"”Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at the time. “lol @ all the years Republicans spent on cultural hysteria of society ‘erasing Christmas and it's meaning’ when they're doing that fine all on their own.”

Ms Boebert replied by saying she bought the guns as Christmas gifts for her four sons, none of whom appear to be over the age of 18.