Ocasio-Cortez Keeps Busy During Shutdown With Bizarre New Role

If anyone still doubts that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is more performance artist than legislator, this week’s shutdown spectacle in Washington should put that debate to rest.

When a group of Bronx eighth graders from Zeta Charter Schools saw their U.S. Capitol tour canceled because of furloughed staff, most members of Congress might have quietly expressed sympathy. Ocasio-Cortez, however, saw an irresistible opportunity to put herself center stage.

The New York Democrat, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, had already planned to greet the students. But when the official tour was called off, she promptly inserted herself as the star of the show — cameras rolling, naturally.

“It was a totally different direction than we thought the day would go,” said Dan Rojas, the school manager and one of the chaperones. “We knew that what we had planned was not going to happen in the way that we had planned it many months ago. It turned very, very quickly into, actually, a much better experience.”

For Ocasio-Cortez, who has built her political brand on viral moments and dramatic gestures, it was another made-for-social-media production. She guided the children through the empty Capitol, weaving in stories about her own life — from her Bronx upbringing and bartending days to her upset victory over Joe Crowley at age 28.

“Before we actually met her, I had no idea who she was,” admitted 13-year-old Jordan Allen, capturing the generational divide between adults enamored by AOC’s celebrity and kids who saw just another politician talking about herself.

As the congresswoman led the students through exclusive areas — such as a reading room normally reserved for female lawmakers — she turned the stops into political lectures, invoking women like Patsy Mink and Shirley Chisholm. Each anecdote seemed to circle back to the same theme: empowerment through her own example.

“It was like seeing America change in live,” Allen said. “It was amazing.”

“It was inspiring to see such a powerful woman,” added 12-year-old Maia Gilliam.

“She made the tour a lot more interesting,” said 13-year-old Zachary Martinez, who also told the New York Post he felt older generations in Congress “are often not making good decisions” but that young people like AOC are “changing the world.”

Her spokesperson, Karla Santillan, insisted Ocasio-Cortez simply wanted the students to feel welcome in “the people’s house.”

But critics saw something else: the familiar spectacle of AOC leveraging a national crisis as a backdrop for self-promotion. While thousands of federal workers face furloughs and families grapple with Washington’s dysfunction, Ocasio-Cortez managed to make the shutdown about her — yet again.