Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ted Cruz got into a Twitter spat over who knew more about science after the progressive New York lawmaker ripped the decision to put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the coronoavirus threat.
“Mike Pence literally does not believe in science. It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic. This decision could cost people their lives. Pence’s past decisions already have,” AOC tweeted after President Trump on Wednesday put Pence in charge.
“As you are speaking as the oracle of science, tell us, what exactly is a Y chromosome?” the Texas Republican shot back in the first of three sarcastic tweets targeting the freshman firebrand.
“And at what age of gestation does science tell us that an unborn child feels physical pain?” added Cruz, 49, a conservative and staunch abortion foe.
Ocasio-Cortez, a 30-year-old Democrat, on Friday ramped up the feud, listing her academic accomplishments.
“Sen. Cruz, while I understand you judge people’s intelligence by the lowest income they’ve had, I hold awards from MIT Lincoln Lab &others for accomplishments in microbiology,” she tweeted.
“Secondly, I’m surprised you’re asking about chromosomes given that you don’t even believe in evolution. Sincerely, an Intel global finalist, a fmr multi-year intern for Sen. Kennedy, a cum laude dual major in Economics & International Relations, a fmr Educational Director for national organization, Who to you is ‘just a bartender,’ And also your colleague,” she concluded, along with a link to a 2018 story in Quartz about her winning a science fair in high school.
AOC won the prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in microbiology, which the website called “the largest pre-college scientific research event in the world.”
Her project found that “antioxidants could potentially help prevent degenerative illnesses induced by oxidative stress,” the story read.
While AOC has a BA from Boston University, Cruz has a BA from Princeton and a law degree from Harvard.