AOC deploys shocking word salad of ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ after being asked about US defense of Taiwan at Munich Security Conference
Progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave a shockingly garbled answer when asked about how the US would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat Representative from the Bronx, said: ‘Um, you know, I think that I, uh, this is such a, you know, I think that this is a, um, this is of course, a, uh, very longstanding, um, policy of the United States,’ she began.
‘And I think what we are hoping for is that we make sure we never get to that point and we want to make sure that we are moving all of our economic, research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise,’ she finished.
The congresswoman, touted as a potential future presidential candidate, flunked when asked ‘Would and should the US actually commit US troops to defend Taiwan if China were to move?’ at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.
Ocasio-Cortez’s stumble came as she tried to boost her foreign policy chops and will likely come back to haunt her should she ultimately decide to make a White House run.
Other panelists included Matthew Whitaker, the US Ambassador to NATO since April of last year, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Whitaker, who had a controversial stint as acting Attorney General in Trump’s first administration, offered a bit more clarity on what US policy should be on Chinese expansionism.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York gave halting answers at times to foreign policy questions posed to her during panels at the Munich Security Conference on Friday
When asked if the US should miltarily defend Taiwan if China were to invade it, AOC launched into a flurry of ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ before finding her words. (Pictured from L-R: Ocasio-Cortez,Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, US NATO Amassador Matthew Whitaker and Bloomberg TV anchor Francine Lacqua)
Pictured: Taiwanese soldiers engage in an artillery training exercise on August 7, 2024
‘Well, I mean obviously that would be the president’s prerogative as to how to deploy our military. I would just say that we have to deter and defend like we do here on the European continent,’ Whitaker said of Taiwan.
Whitmer gave a brief answer but equated defending Taiwan’s independence as being as important as defending Ukraine from Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Ocasio-Cortez was likely hoping for a decisive performance in Munich, while also seeking to make a stark contrast with Vice President JD Vance’s appearance at the conference last year.
Last February, Vance castigated European countries for their supposed efforts to erode free speech and free expression, while also demanding they spend more of their own budgets on national defense.
If Ocasio-Cortez runs for president, Vance could be her opponent. In fact, she celebrated a poll in December that had her beating him 51 percent to 49 percent.
Ocasio-Cortez struck a different tone to Vance during her two panels, arguing that the growing gap between the rich and the poor is what is giving way to the rise of authoritarianism around the world.
‘Extreme levels of income inequality lead to social instability,’ she said, adding that countries should get their ‘economic houses in order and deliver material gains for the working class, or else we will fall to a more isolated world governed by authoritarians.’
On other foreign policy questions, Ocasio-Cortez was able to give answers that weren’t as halting.
When asked about whether the US should initiate strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails, she was quick to call that ‘a dramatic escalation no one in the world wants to see’.
Ocasio-Cortez sought to distinguish herself from Vance, who spoke at the Munich Security Conference last year and could be her opponent in the 2028 presidential election. She was the most confident in answering questions about how she would deal with the Israel-Palestine conflict (Pictured: A Palestinian boy walks through the ruins of his neighborhood in Gaza on Friday)
‘Right now, what the Iranian regime is doing particularly with respect to protesters is a horrific slaughter of, some estimates have it at tens of thousands of people,’ she said. ‘I think that jumping into strikes is, I think that right now we have so much, to me, there’s still so much runway, so much that we can do to avoid that scenario.’
On the topic of the US providing aid to Israel, Ocasio-Cortez was perhaps the most clear.
‘I think that the United States has an obligation to uphold its own laws, particularly Leahy Laws,’ she began.
The Leahy Laws, named after Senator Patrick Leahy, are statutes within the US code that prohibit the Departments of State and Defense from funding or training foreign militaries that commit gross violations of human rights.
‘The idea of completely unconditional aid no matter what one does, does not make sense. I think it enabled a genocide in Gaza, and I think that we have thousands of women and children dead that was completely avoidable,’ Ocasio-Cortez continued.
The topic of her possibly running for president was baked into many of the questions she received on Friday, but she consistently did not take the bait.
Katrin Bennhold, a New York Times reporter who moderated one of the panels Ocasio-Cortez was on, asked her if she would impose a wealth tax or a billionaire’s tax if she became president.
Ocasio-Cortez laughed and shook her head. ‘I don’t think…we have to wait for any one president to impose a wealth tax. I think it needs to be done expeditiously.’
The 36-year-old congresswoman, who met the Constitution’s minimum age requirement to run for president last year, has not announced her intention to run.
She is hugely popular among progressives, but faces an uphill battle to win centrist Democrats and undecided voters should she run for president.
There is also speculation she will run a primary campaign against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
