Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is being blasted for failing to applaud during key parts of President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech.
David Smith, The Guardian's Washington bureau chief, noted when first lady Melania Trump was introduced by the president, one lawmaker encouraged Ocasio-Cortez to applaud.
Smith tweeted: "Trump begins speech and welcomes Melania. Most stand and applaud. One member encourages Ocasio-Cortez to do so; she appears to reply, "What? Why?"
Former White House adviser Sebastian Gorka posted a photo on his Twitter account of Ocasio-Cortez seated during the speech, while those around her are standing an applauding.
He wrote: "NOTE THIS WELL: This woman even refused to applaud the @ICEgov agent who saved more than 300 girls and woman from coyote smugglers. @AOC is a Marxist who couldn't care less about other women."
And The Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan tweeted: "AOC had a rare bad night, looking not spirited, warm, and original as usual but sullen, teenaged, and at a loss."
Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to reply.
"Why should I be 'spirited and warm' for this embarrassment of a #SOTU?" she wrote. "Tonight was an unsettling night for our country. The president failed to offer any plan, any vision at all, for our future. We're flying without a pilot. And I'm not here to comfort anyone about that fact."
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