In a Twitter spat this past Sunday, July 24, New York State Senator Jessica Ramos went at U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, accusing the fellow progressive lawmaker of not spending enough time in her home district, the 14th Congressional District in New York. As a result, Ramos accused AOC of not knowing what was going on in her own district. The attack itself is all the more surprising considering they are both longtime allies with district offices in the same building. 

The initial attack from Ramos stemmed from a tweet from a user named Daniel, a medical student according to his biography, with the handle @jai_lies, who in a tweet at AOC on July 21 said, “a couple of the most highly respected health policy academics recently set up a meeting with AOC’s office to discuss NHS style healthcare reform. They were told bluntly by AOC’s staff, ‘we’re not doing healthcare right now.’” 

In a follow up tweet he continues: “So while she’s doing performative resistance art for the camera’s she’s ‘not doing healthcare right now.’ We are in the middle of two pandemics & people are still dying because they lack healthcare. this is not fighting.” 

In response to the user, Ocasio-Cortez apologized in a separate tweet. 

“It's not representative of me nor my values. If you can connect with details I'd appreciate it. I'll follow so DMs will be open," read part of the response. 

This prompted an angry Ramos to respond to AOC with a tweet of her own. 

“Maybe if you spent more time in your office and with your team you’d know what goes on. Just saying it would be nice if you breathed our air. So, as an employer, what happens with the staffer who said this?” This was followed up by another tweet: “I believe what I see and hear on my streets and in my office building :),” Ramos tweeted. 

Fellow progressives came out in support of Ocasio-Cortez including Tiffany Cabán, a New York City councilmember, who said the accusations towards AOC had not been the experience she has had with the representative. Ramos responded to Cabán as well.

“I wish I could say the same, but I have receipts and my own experience. Both your experience and mine can be true,” she wrote.

Other lawmakers coming out in support of Ocasio-Cortez included Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a New York State Assemblymember as well as Brooklyn State Senator Julia Salazar, who tweeted out that it was “abundantly clear” that AOC is “present in her district and absolutely dedicated to the communities she represents." 

In another of many tweets from the New York lawmaker, Ramos also insisted that she has not communicated with Ocasio-Cortez in quite some time. 

"I gave up texting her a while back, and as petitioning unfolded, I reached out through staff and requested a meeting. I have not spoken to my congressperson in months… Maybe more than a year? What else is it I'm supposed to do?” she tweeted. 

Despite all the outpouring of support from other Democrats for Ocasio-Cortez, Ramos has only doubled down. 

In another tweet late Sunday, Ramos took another crack. 

“Respectfully, she ran on breathing our air,” a reference to ousted former Congressman named Joe Crowley, who was removed from office in 2018. At the time, Ocasio-Cortez was still unknown. “That a Democrat who takes corporate money, profits off foreclosure, doesn’t live here, doesn’t send his kids to our schools, doesn’t drink our water or breathe our air cannot possibly represent us.” 

Ocasio-Cortez pushed back on these claims on Monday, July 25, through a statement from her spokeswoman, Lauren Hitt, who said the Representative held an event earlier this month in her home district of Queens, where she met with leaders of a community organization that helps renters and small businesses called Chhaya. 

Both Ramos and Ocasio-Cortez’ office have declined comments as of Monday.