Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) offered some cheeky advice to Sarah Palin this week after the former vice presidential candidate branded her a “fake feminist.”
In a Fox News interview that aired Thursday, Palin blasted Ocasio-Cortez for her recent criticisms of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his state’s controversial law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
She took specific aim at Ocasio-Cortez’s use of the gender-neutral term “menstruating persons,” proclaiming, “She is such a fake feminist that she would bring up an issue like this and try to use it to make some kind of political point ― that’s not equality, right?”
Ocasio-Cortez previously explained that the term “menstruating persons,” which drew the ire of many conservatives online, includes transgender and nonbinary people who still have their periods.
Still, she didn’t seem too vexed by the criticism. Shortly before noon on Thursday, she tweeted a short video explaining that Palin would be best-served by expressing her views on a “special hotline.”
“Does my existence make you mad?” she said in the clip. “Does the fact that, yes, I am a mouthpiece for the people of New York’s 14th Congressional District upset you? Well, I have help for you. Call 1-800-CRY-NOW. That’s 1-800-CRY-NOW.”
In a follow-up tweet, she explained that the “hotline” came with a “corresponding website,” at which viewers could donate to 10 Texas-based reproductive health providers.
More than $250,000 had been raised through the site thus far, she tweeted shortly after.
The exchange took place not long before the Department of Justice announced it had filed a lawsuit against Texas over the abortion ban. The complaint alleges that the legislation was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution” and also targets the state’s incentive program for private citizens to sue those seeking abortions.