Pro-Trump Group Ambushed AOC’s Town Hall With a Lady Who Screamed About ‘Eating Babies’
Credit to Author: Tim Marcin| Date: Fri, 04 Oct 2019 16:59:29 +0000
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When a woman screamed that society should “start eating babies” to fight climate change at town hall hosted by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week, it seemed almost too strange to be real.
Turns out, it was too strange to be real: The whole thing was a troll job from a far-right, fringe group.
The LaRouche PAC — a right-wing that supports Donald Trump and thinks climate change is a hoax — took credit for the odd outburst on Twitter late Thursday night. “It was us. Malthusianism isn't new, Jonathan Swift knew that. Sometimes, only satire works,” the group wrote.
The moment at AOC’s town hall on Thursday was captured by C-Span and, naturally, went viral. Toward the end of the event, the woman stood up and said she loved the Green New Deal but felt it didn’t far enough.
"We got to start eating babies! We don't have enough time!” she yelled out, while also wearing a t-shirt urging people to eat children
As the woman got increasingly worked up, Ocasio-Cortez tried to calm her down and told her “it’s OK.” She then continued to talk about climate change and ignored the comments about babies.
Seemingly unaware the woman was apparently working with a pro-Trump group, the Trump family was quick to jump on the moment as an opporunity to poke at AOC.
“Seems like a normal AOC supporter to me,” Donald Trump Jr. posted.
“AOC is a Wack Job!” added President Donald Trump.
Ocasio-Cortez had repeatedly urged this woman be treated with compassion because she may have been in crisis. Friday, the freshman Democrat tweeted a reaction to the news the woman worked with the LaRouche PAC.
“Turns out the woman yelling was a Trump supporter,” the New York representative tweeted. “Doesn’t rule out potential mental issue (Drs do that) but good to know they were not in crisis. Earlier this year I was stalked & very nearly hurt by a disturbed person. I don’t take chances & immediately try to de-escalate.”
The LaRouche PAC was founded by Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr., the late conspiracy theorist who trafficked in anti-Semitism, homophobia, and racism. Matthew Sweet, who wrote a book about the group’s history, described it as a “bizarre political cult.”
“They’ve been doing this since the ’70s,” Sweet told the Washington Post. “The tactic is you go to a political meeting and you create a disturbance that disrupts the meeting, and more importantly, that creates a kind of chaos.”
Cover image: Screenshot via video
This article originally appeared on VICE US.