This statement, however, has not sat well with her constituents in the 14th district, who are urging her to "talk to real people and see how bad it has gotten."
AOC's contentious remarks were made in a video shared on her Instagram account, originally produced by New Zealand's left-leaning Aotearoa Liberation League.
The video posits that inflation is a consequence of corporations' price-setting actions. The New York Post sought the opinions of AOC's constituents on this matter, revealing a palpable sense of discontent.
Latisha Law, a 41-year-old certified nursing assistant and city resident, questioned AOC's understanding of the current economic climate. "Is AOC crazy? Has she been to a grocery store recently? $1,000 ain’t nothing no more. $100 ain’t nothing no more," she said.
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Law suggested that AOC should spend time in low-income areas to better understand the struggles of her constituents. "Maybe she should spend some time in the projects and really help people. I’m working two jobs just to survive," she added.
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Iris Vasquez, 61, expressed her belief that the government had exploited the pandemic to their advantage. "You can’t put this all on big companies. Prices went up high then and they’ve stayed high. I think it was just an excuse to make us spend more money," she said. Vasquez recounted her own experiences with inflation, including paying ten dollars for eggs and having to travel to find better prices.
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Jean Torres, a 71-year-old retired teacher of Puerto Rican descent, criticized AOC for not representing traditional Hispanic values. "AOC does not represent true Hispanic beliefs or values. Puerto Ricans have traditional family values which she does not represent," she said. Torres also took issue with AOC's dismissal of government responsibility for inflation, pointing to AOC's infamous "Tax the Rich" dress worn at the 2021 Met Gala as an example of her disconnect from the realities of her constituents.
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Torres also revealed that her entire family now votes Republican, and she believes AOC should not be in Congress. "She's not helping us, she's hurting us with her rhetoric and her policies," she said.
Another resident, identified only as Olive, echoed these sentiments. "AOC should get out here and talk to people and see how bad it’s gotten. Prices have gotten insane and someone needs to do something about it. The economy is a mess and just calling it all ‘propaganda’ is ridiculous,” she said.
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The video AOC shared claimed that "Propaganda around inflation and cost of living is so powerful, that we forget the very basic fact that corporations set the prices for their products." It further argued that if a corporation raises its prices and then makes record profits, it's not due to an "invisible monster," but rather "a bunch of greedy shareholders."
According to the U.S. inflation calculator, inflation remained below 3 percent throughout 2020 until April 2021, when it exceeded 4 percent. It has stayed above five percent since then, peaking at 9.1 percent in June 2022.
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