With the 2018 midterm elections now far in hindsight, it is time to begin looking at the record of the freshman class of representatives and senators thus far.

When taking a step back, it is evident that two things have become even further emphasized by the new faces to Congress on the Democratic side, hypocrisy and extremism.

Just weeks ago, newly elected Congresswoman from Minnesota’s 5th congressional district Rep. Ilhan Omar, came under fire for her allegedly anti-Semitic comments about the influence of the Israeli government and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

In her statement, Omar said, “I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”

Omar’s use of the word “allegiance” in reference to Israel sparked criticism as the use of the word has ties to anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and rightfully so. Although Omar has since somewhat apologized for her remarks, saying they were misinterpreted, this is not the first time that she has displayed animosity towards Israel.

Moreover, the most egregious display of hypocrisy comes from House Democrats including Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Rather than disavow Omar for her comments, many top-ranking Democrats in Congress opted to defend her instead.

In the light of Omar’s comments, the house should have held a real vote to condemn her statements. Instead, the resolution brought to the floor by Pelosi and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn says nothing of significance.

Pelosi went on to make excuses for Omar saying that she “did not understand the full weight of her words.”

The stark hypocrisy comes into play when analyzing the manner in which the Democrats handled this case of hateful speech compared to that of the GOP.

Back in January, House Republicans led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy voted to unanimously disavow white supremacist comments made by Rep. Steve King of Iowa. The GOP did not stop there, as they also stripped King of his committee assignments.

The ho-hum and insincere attitude of Democratic leadership in response to Omar is inexcusable. For someone who has a seat on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Omar should have indefinitely been removed and stripped of her committee assignments. Nonetheless, she was not even directly decried as her district remains angered and recruits 2020 primary challengers to go against Omar.

As for extremism, there is not a single freshman representative who displays it in as pronounced a way as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. For starters, Ocasio-Cortez has been nothing but an endless fountain of idiotic and uneducated statements since entering Congress.

A self-described socialist, Ocasio-Cortez personifies ideological extremism. Just over a month ago on Feb.7, Ocasio-Cortez alongside introduced the Green New Deal resolution alongside Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

The GDN mentions an unreal amount of outlandish, unrealistic and flat-out nonsensical proposals. The resolution entails a number of horrid socialist priorities such as universal healthcare, universal basic income and placing more restrictions on businesses and the business environment.

As if this proposal wasn’t preposterous enough, Ocasio-Cortez has not mentioned any clear way in which any of its priorities will be paid for. However, it is expected that if the GDN would go into effect, it would cost an overwhelming and unacceptable $93 trillion.

As a further matter, Ocasio-Cortez’s ineptitude was demonstrated in her clumsy debacle with Amazon. As of last year, Amazon planned last year to plant one of its new headquarters in New York City within Ocasio-Cortez’ jurisdiction in Queens.

The freshman congresswoman’s opposition to the deal resulted in Amazon pulling out of NYC, costing the city over 25,000 jobs in addition to an approximated $4 billion in lost wages which would have gone to working-classing class individuals.

Ocasio-Cortez’ sheer incompetence drew ire from members of her district who overwhelmingly supported the Amazon deal as well as Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Ocasio-Cortez’ comments on the New Zealand massacre caused a backlash amongst representatives. Representative Dan Crenshaw (R), a former Navy Seal, took Ocasio-Cortez’ tweets and messages which attacked groups such as the NRA and bringing the event which is still being mourned upon, to politics. “If you find yourself using the tragedy in New Zealand to take backhanded swipes at conservatives in America — many of my colleagues already have — then you really have no shame and you are part of the problem. It should be easy for us to stand united and condemn terrorism,” Crenshaw replied.
Crenshaw, a pronounced Republican has taken action on social media to combat opposing views.