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Ocasio-Cortez Threatens Subpoena in Response to Meme Shared by Trump Jr.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez / Getty Images
December 7, 2018

Democratic Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) threatened to use Congress' subpoena power against Donald Trump Jr. after the president's son mocked her on social media.

In a Thursday Instagram post, Trump Jr. posted a meme that depicted the democratic socialist Ocasio-Cortez asking President Donald Trump, "Why are you so afraid of a socialist economy?"

"Because Americans want to walk their dogs, not eat them," Trump responds in the meme, a reference to the extreme food shortages in Venezuela that have reduced residents to eating pets and zoo animals.

Ocasio-Cortez, who in November became the youngest woman elected to Congress, linked to a Washington Post piece about the Instagram post and responded on Twitter. "I have noticed that Junior here has a habit of posting nonsense about me whenever the Mueller investigation heats up," she mocked.

"Please, keep it coming Jr - it’s definitely a 'very, very large brain' idea to troll a member of a body that will have subpoena power in a month. Have fun!" she continued.

After receiving criticism for the tweet, Ocasio-Cortez insisted that she did not intend to threaten Trump Jr. with Congress' subpoena power. "For the GOP crying that this is a 'threat' - I don’t have power to subpoena anybody," she tweeted.

"Congress as a body, GOP included, has the power. No [individual] member can issue a subpoena unless they are a Chair (which, as a freshman, I can assure you I will not be). Also must be under purview."