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AOC Does Complete 180, Says She Was Only Joking About the World Ending in 12 Years

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“Just kidding, LOL.”

We’ve all heard kids or teenagers say this before, usually as a way to brush off something ridiculous they said. It goes like this: Say something foolish, then when people react to the dumb thing that was said, quickly pretend it was just a joke.

This is cute when a 10-year-old does it. By the time someone is approaching adulthood, however, it grows tiresome.

The reason, of course, is that we expect grown-ups to say what they mean and mean what they say — especially when dealing with serious topics that affect other people.

But it looks like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has more in common with immature 10-year-olds than serious adults.

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After previously declaring that the world would end in 12 years unless we let socialists like her run the economy, the New York bartender-turned-congresswoman had a very lame follow-up: Just kidding.

Back in January, Ocasio-Cortez made waves after she declared, “the world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change.”

She seemed deadly serious when she said it, even comparing it to World War II, but was roundly mocked for the absurdity of the statement.

Yet on Sunday, the Democratic lawmaker tried to reel that line back in using social media.

Complaining that conservatives fact-checked another one of her statements on income inequality — how dare they! — Ocasio-Cortez implied that her “12 years” claim was just, like, sarcasm, or like, whatever.

“This is a technique of the GOP, to take dry humor + sarcasm literally and ‘fact check’ it,” she wrote.

“Like the ‘world ending in 12 years’ thing, you’d have to have the social intelligence of a sea sponge to think it’s literal,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “But the GOP is basically Dwight from The Office so who knows.”

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Translation: I didn’t really mean the world is going to end in 12 years, when I said the world is going to end in 12 years. You’re just a dumb-dumb if you thought me saying that into a microphone was meant to be serious.

It would be one thing if this were a comedian or, say, a satire outlet pointing out that they aren’t supposed to be taken literally.

But Ocasio-Cortez is a sitting congresswoman, elected to do a very serious job. Is she just now realizing that it isn’t a game?

And here’s the kicker: She repeated the “12 years” claim multiple times, and even called out people who thought it was a joke.

“We have 12 years left to cut emissions by at least 50 percent, if not more, and for everyone who wants to make a joke about that, you may laugh, but your grandkids will not,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a live stream in April.

“For those of you who are trying to mock and delay this moment, I mean, I just feel bad for you. I pity you for your role in history right now,” she continued.

Oh. Does that mean that she has the “social intelligence of a sea sponge?” Her words, not ours … but it would explain a few things.

It’s easy to laugh at her, but let’s get serious for a moment. When you get past the utter absurdity of Ocasio-Cortez’s nonsensical and contradictory statements, there’s a sobering conclusion about the congresswoman that should not be ignored.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t believe that words mean things.

She doesn’t think about anything she says, and is surprised when people take her at her word, because those words have all the weight of flatulence in the wind.

And why wouldn’t they? This is all new to her. Ocasio-Cortez has never had to make decisions that affect people’s lives.

A year ago she was a waitress in Queens, where meaningless banter with customers and a golly-gee smile helped get tips. And if she said something silly, she could just wink and go “just kidding.”

It’s the technique of a teenager. Pretend that every other thing you say is, like, totally sarcasm, and then weasel your way out if anybody ever tries to hold you to your words.

She just assumed it would work the same in Washington. But as “sea sponge” herself is quickly discovering, people tend to ask more questions when it’s their jobs and futures on the line — and hopefully, voters are catching on about the vapidness of Ocasio-Cortez.

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Benjamin Arie is an independent journalist and writer. He has personally covered everything ranging from local crime to the U.S. president as a reporter in Michigan before focusing on national politics. Ben frequently travels to Latin America and has spent years living in Mexico.




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