Molly Prince
House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney and Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got into an exchange Monday after Cheney mocked the freshman congresswoman for flubbing the history of the U.S. Constitution.
Ocasio-Cortez claimed during an MSNBC town hall Friday that the Democratic party was at its strongest when former President Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office and consequently, that the 22nd Amendment was ratified to keep FDR from running for another term.
“They had to amend the Constitution of the United States to make sure Roosevelt did not get reelected,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the time. “There were so many extraordinary things that were happening at that time that were uniting working people.”
The 22nd Amendment, however, was passed in 1947, two years after Roosevelt died — an error that Cheney pointed out.
“We knew the Democrats let dead people vote,” Cheney tweeted. “According to [Ocasio-Cortez], they can run for President, too.”
We knew the Democrats let dead people vote. According to @AOC, they can run for President, too. https://t.co/69VBYIDtGT
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) March 31, 2019
The New York congresswoman responded by pointing to a Newsweek article that provided additional context for her claim, which noted that the legislative process on the 22nd Amendment began a year prior to Roosevelt’s death. However, Newsweek changed the headline from “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Attacked On Twitter For Constitutional Mistake — But Was She Actually Right?” to “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Attacked On Twitter For Constitutional Mistake — But Here’s The Full Story.”
“Hey Rep. Cheney, I see from your dead people comment that you get your news from Facebook memes, but the National Constitution Center + Newsweek are just two of many places where you can clarify your misunderstanding of the history of the 22nd Amendment.”
Hey Rep. Cheney,
I see from your dead people comment that you get your news from Facebook memes, but the National Constitution Center + Newsweek are just two of many places where you can clarify your misunderstanding of the history of the 22nd Amendment: https://t.co/Je6mHFJ687 https://t.co/np1XtgLpm1
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 1, 2019
Cheney sent Ocasio-Cortez the famed “School House Rock” video on how a bill becomes a law.
“Hey [Ocasio-Cortez], I know you’re busy so I thought this short video would be helpful to introduce you to the basics of the Constitution,” Cheney tweeted. “If you’re still trying to figure out how a bill becomes a law, they have a great video on that, too.”
Hey @AOC, I know you’re busy so I thought this short video would be helpful to introduce you to the basics of the Constitution. If you’re still trying to figure out how a bill becomes a law, they have a great video on that, too. https://t.co/aTBmCpIUqY https://t.co/MIrvtJevBI
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) April 1, 2019
This was not the first time Ocasio-Cortez faced backlash for her statements on American government. The freshman Democrat seemingly confused the two chambers of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate, with the three branches of government: the Executive, Legislative and Judicial in November.
“If we work our butts off to make sure that we take back all three chambers of Congress, uh, rather, all three chambers of government — the presidency, the Senate and the House — in 2020,” she said. “We can’t start working in 2020.”
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