{"id":20742,"date":"2025-10-30T00:17:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T00:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=20742"},"modified":"2025-10-30T00:17:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T00:17:39","slug":"ocasio-cortez-keeps-busy-during-shutdown-with-bizarre-new-role-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=20742","title":{"rendered":"Ocasio-Cortez Keeps Busy During Shutdown With Bizarre New Role"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If anyone ever accused New York Democrat Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of not being a performance artist, that person is a liar.<\/p>\n

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When the federal government shut down this week, hundreds of people were affected \u2014 including a group of eighth graders from Zeta Charter Schools in the Bronx who were supposed to tour the U.S. Capitol. Their tour guide had been furloughed, their visit canceled, and their civics lesson seemingly lost, Chalk Beat\u00a0reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Enter Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, never one to let a good crisis go to waste.<\/p>\n

The congresswoman, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, had already planned to greet the students. But when she found out their tour was off, she reportedly decided the only way to save the day was to step in herself \u2014 as the star of her own unscripted production.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was a totally different direction than we thought the day would go,\u201d said Dan Rojas, the school manager and one of the chaperones. \u201cWe knew that what we had planned was not going to happen in the way that we had planned it many months ago. It turned very, very quickly into, actually, a much better experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

AOC, a 35-year-old progressive icon who\u2019s built her career on viral moments, apparently couldn\u2019t resist the urge to turn a canceled tour into another public display of her \u201cfor the people\u201d brand. She met the students outside the Capitol, took charge of the group, and guided them inside \u2014 cameras rolling, of course.<\/p>\n

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The adults were reportedly star-struck when Ocasio-Cortez strolled up to them, but the students, being middle schoolers, didn\u2019t share the same awe.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore we actually met her, I had no idea who she was,\u201d said 13-year-old Jordan Allen.<\/p>\n

The congresswoman wasted no time turning the tour into a lesson about herself \u2014 sharing how she grew up in the Bronx and Westchester County, worked as a bartender, and \u201cdefied the odds\u201d to unseat Joe Crowley, a powerful incumbent, at 28.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was like seeing America change in live,\u201d Allen said. \u201cIt was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Ocasio-Cortez, it was also the perfect backdrop: the Capitol nearly empty, reporters looking for color during a shutdown, and a congresswoman who never met a spotlight she didn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

She guided the group through lesser-known areas \u2014 including a reading room normally reserved for female members of Congress \u2014 and used it to deliver a mini-lecture on women\u2019s struggles in government.<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez highlighted figures like Patsy Mink, the first woman of color elected to the House, and Shirley Chisholm, the Brooklyn native and first Black woman in Congress. For her, every stop seemed another cue for a monologue about empowerment \u2014 and by implication, herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was inspiring to see such a powerful woman,\u201d said 12-year-old Maia Gilliam.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe made the tour a lot more interesting,\u201d added 13-year-old Zachary Martinez.<\/p>\n

AOC\u2019s spokesperson, Karla Santillan, said the congresswoman wanted the students to feel welcome in \u201cthe people\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n

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And to be fair, some of the kids walked away feeling inspired.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like all these old people are often not making good decisions, and it\u2019s really affecting us a lot,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cBut as time goes on, people of our generation, or even people coming close to our generation, they\u2019re making big changes. They\u2019re changing the world. They\u2019re making it better for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n