Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday night after a photo surfaced on social media, showing a group of young men “groping and choking” a cardboard cutout of the freshman congresswoman — while wearing shirts that read “Team Mitch.”
“Hey @senatemajldr – these young men look like they work for you,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
“Just wanted to clarify: are you paying for young men to practice groping & choking members of Congress w/ your payroll,” she asked, “or is this just the standard culture of #TeamMitch?”
The picture in question was posted on Facebook and then shared by a Twitter user named @emrazz.
“Break me off a piece of that,” the caption reads.
“Future federal judges of America,” tweeted @emrazz in response.
The photo emerged Monday just one day after Ocasio-Cortez publicly condemned McConnell — in the wake of the El Paso and Dayton shootings — for not calling a Senate vote on a gun reform bill that was passed by the Democrat-controlled House back in February.
“The House passed HR8, a Bipartisan Background Checks Act, *5 months ago* and the Senate has yet to vote on it,” the New York lawmaker tweeted. “It was one of our 1st major priorities after ending the gov shutdown. You’ve been sitting on it since February giving bogus excuses. Care to explain [to] the people why?”
Ocasio-Cortez was responding to a tweet from McConnell, in which he offered his condolences to the victims of the El Paso shooting.
“The entire nation is horrified by today’s senseless violence,” said the majority leader. “Elaine’s and my prayers go out to the victims of this terrible violence, their families and friends, and the brave first responders who charged into harm’s way.”
Several other legislators, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have urged McConnell to call the Senate back into session and revisit the bill.
“One awful event after another,” said Schumer in a statement. “Leader McConnell must call the Senate back for an emergency session to put the House-passed universal background checks legislation on the Senate floor for debate and a vote immediately.”