Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez apparently only likes softball questions from Stephen Colbert and CNN, and is intolerant of citizen journalists and foreign reporters who may have some real questions they’d respectfully like answered.
“Political PAPI,” a citizen journalist, recently attended a campaign event held by Cortez. Several cameras and media teams could be seen in the room, along with local residents.
A foreign reporter, whom Political PAPI doesn’t identify other than as “eastern European”, said he attempted to ask Cortez some questions, but was kicked out of the event.
The reporter and a cameraman were recording “the whole time,” but they were ejected towards the end.
“I guess she doesn’t want to answer questions. Her press office said no,” the man said.
“‘Can we have 30 seconds?’ ‘No,'” the man recalled.
“And they pulled out mic out of our hand almost,” he said.
He disputed the notion that Ocasio-Cortez believes in freedom of the press.
“They tell they believe in freedom of the press, but I told these press agents, ‘freedom of the press,’ but she doesn’t answer questions,” the man said.
He noted it’s not the first time Ocasio-Cortez has attempted to block the media from covering her.
In August, he disallowed the press from covering two town hall meetings.
The Queens Chronicle reported:
According to the Democratic nominee in the 14th Congressional District, she and the dozens of area residents who attended the event “talked about race, immigration, healthcare, disability rights and housing.”
But unless you were in the room on Sunday, you won’t know what specific community problems were mentioned or how Ocasio-Cortez planned to address them once she is sworn in.
That’s because her campaign banned members of the media from attending the event, which was otherwise open to the public.
“We wanted to help create a space where community members felt comfortable and open to express themselves without the distraction of cameras and press. These were the first set of events where the press has been excluded,” campaign spokesman Corbin Trent said.
“Political PAPI” was also treated hostilely by Ocasio-Cortez’s staff.
He clearly had his camera out and was recording, and the socialist candidate hammed it up for viewers.
But then it went downhill as he calmly asked seemingly innocent questions, and Ocasio-Cortez fumbled through them.
After two, a man stepped in, put his hand on the reporters arm to shoo him away.
Ocasio-Cortez allowed another.
After it, he says he got “dirty looks everywhere,” and he was approached and asked “who I’m working for.”
“Once I tell her I’m an independent journalist, she proceeds to tell me I’m not allowed to ask Ocasio-Cortez any questions unless I go through her first,” he said.
He noted he didn’t approach the candidate “in a disrespectful manner.”
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