AOC: GOP Wants All Women and Girls to ‘Drop’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is criticizing Republicans for banning transgender women from using the women’s restroom in the House of Representatives.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote in a new memo Wednesday that lawmakers and staffers in the House of Representatives should use the restrooms that correspond with their biological gender. His statement came after Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) made it her personal mission to ban incoming Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) from using the women’s restroom because she is a transgender woman.

Ocasio-Cortez stormed into the Republican Party on Wednesday, saying the ban will only endanger women as people want to check their genitals before they can use the restroom.

“What Nancy Mace and what Chairman Johnson are doing puts all women and girls at risk because if you ask them, ‘What is your plan to enforce this?’ they will come up with an answer, and what it will inevitably bring . There are women and girls in it who are ready for abuse because they want to be, because people want to check their genitals when they suspect who is transgender and who is helping and who is doing what,” she told reporters on Wednesday in a clip shared by Spectrum News.

“And so the idea that Nancy Mace wants to make little girls and women fall for, who, a researcher? Who would that be? Because she wants to suspect and point the finger at who she thinks is transgender is disgusting. It’s disgusting. And honestly, it just allows these Republicans to bully any woman who doesn’t wear a skirt because they think maybe she doesn’t look womanly enough,” Ocasio-Cortez continued.

She further argued that women should be able to dress however they want without Republicans inspecting their bodies. She said Mace – who spearheaded the ban – only wants to raise money for the policy and not protect women.

“People have the right to express themselves, to dress how they want and to be who they are. And if a woman doesn’t look feminine enough for a Republican, they want to be able to inspect her genitals to go to the bathroom. It’s disgusting,” she said. “And everyone, regardless of how you feel about this issue, should reject it completely.”

“Why are they doing this? They do this so Nancy Mace can make money by sending a text message and raising money via email. They don’t do this to protect people. They endanger women. They are endangering all kinds of girls and everyone should reject it, it’s disgusting,” she added.

In a separate tweet, Ocasio-Cortez explained that men don’t dress up as women and attack them in bathrooms. She said men have no problem attacking women in “broad daylight” as she alluded to sexual misconduct allegations faced by former President Donald Trump and new attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz. Both have denied the separate allegations.

Referring to transgender people by the sex they were assigned at birth rather than by the gender they identify is a tactic often used by opponents of transgender rights. The broader debate over whether transgender people should be allowed to use bathrooms that match their gender identity has become widespread in the US and became a central issue in President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign.

At least eleven states have passed laws banning transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s restrooms in public schools, and in some cases other government facilities.

Democrats have labeled the Republican campaign against McBride as bullying. Rep. Eric Sorensen, D-Ill., said Tuesday that Mace’s comments are “absolutely ignorant.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.