AOC did not attend inauguration because she doesn't feel ‘safe’ around House colleagues, calls to ‘expel’ Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) was a noticeable no-show at Joe Biden’s inauguration and she’s now claiming part of the reason was “very real security concerns” from “other members of Congress.”

Appearing on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time, Ocasio-Cortez first said her no-show at the inauguration was to attend a union strike in the Bronx, but she went on to explain she is also fearful of some of her colleagues.

“I think we also had very real security concerns,” she said. “We still don’t yet feel safe around other members of Congress.”

Asked by host Chris Cuomo if she thought other congressional members would “do you dirty,” the New York Democrat cited Rep. Andy Harris (R-Maryland) trying to bring a gun to the House chamber on Thursday.

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“The moment you bring a gun on the House floor in violation of the rules, you put everyone around you in danger,” she said, adding she doesn’t care what the “intentions” were.

She also suggested a vote to “expel” members of Congress she feels helped motivate the “insurrection,” like Trump supporters Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri).

“We should be actually bringing justice to the members of Congress and the members of the Senate...who also helped support this insurrection,” she said. 

"Let's bring up a vote to expel Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley from the Senate," says Rep. @AOC.

"We should be actually bringing justice to the members of Congress and the members of the Senate who also helped support this insurrection," she tells @ChrisCuomo. pic.twitter.com/aPS4p5P4M7

— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) January 22, 2021

Numerous Democrat lawmakers have suggested Republican congressional members could have been working with the rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, with some calling for investigations and claiming access to certain areas could have been granted by sympathetic lawmakers. 

Ocasio-Cortez herself detailed her own Capitol experience recently and said she was fearful of congressional members who are “white supremacists.”

“I didn’t even feel safe around other members of Congress,” she said, claiming she feared she could have been turned over to the rioters. 

Without providing further details on exactly who the “members of Congress” are or what, if any, threats she has received, Ocasio-Cortez said she thought she could be “hurt” or even “kidnapped” at the hands of some of her colleagues.

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“There were QAnon and white-supremacist sympathizers and, frankly, white-supremacist members of Congress in that extraction point who I know and who I have felt would disclose my location and would create opportunities to allow me to be hurt, kidnapped, et cetera,” she said of the Capitol storming by Trump protesters. 

Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats have placed blame on the Capitol riot – which left five dead and forced numerous politicians to either flee or lockdown in place – on Republicans who supported former President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims.

Hours before the Capitol was stormed, Trump himself spoke to a crowd of thousands in DC and continued to push his allegations and urged them to “fight,” a comment that has led the House to pass an article of impeachment accusing him of inciting an insurrection. That article will be sent to the Senate on Monday, kicking off an impeachment trial for Trump.

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