A new book released Tuesday highlights moments from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-NY) time in Congress, detailing her as a "pariah" who wanted to "remake the system and be thanked for doing it."
The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution, written by Intercept journalist Ryan Grim, explores the ways Ocasio-Cortez's "arrogance" alienated her from her party and how she generated "hostility" among fellow Democrats through canceled meetings and political grandstanding.
Grim said Ocasio-Cortez became "closed off" to meeting donors and repeatedly canceled important meetings at the last minute, including with other representatives who called and asked her to meet. The author also said she infuriated the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2020 by refusing to pay dues because she was worried about how her money would be used to support other candidates.
One of the most memorable instances in her career is when she attended the 2021 Met Gala wearing a dress that said "Tax the Rich." Her critics latched on to her move as hypocritical, as she was attending one of the most money-infused events of the social calendar year.
It "infuriated every organization that had either been told she couldn't attend their event or, more commonly, simply been ignored by her office," Grim wrote via the Daily Mail.
A House ethics committee investigation found that Ocasio-Cortez was allowed to attend the event as a guest of Vogue, but the committee chastised her for not paying the rental cost of the dress or other accessories until after the investigation began.
She paid $990 for the dress, the Daily Mail reported, but she did not repay the cost of the handbag, shoes, jewelry, makeup, and transportation to the Met Gala, which had an estimated worth of nearly $7,000.
Despite Ocasio-Cortez being a social media sensation and appealing to the large crowd of liberal youths, Grim said she has not achieved much in Congress because she "sacrificed her relationship with colleagues" by voting outside her party.
Ocasio-Cortez's steps to break away from her party began on day one. On her first day in Congress, Ocasio-Cortez and two other Democrats voted against their party on a rule that required new spending for tax cuts or entitlements to be offset by budget cuts or revenue increases.
"The gap between AOC's power outside the Capitol and the display of it on day one inside could hardly have been greater. To reshape that landscape, she was rapidly sacrificing her relationships with colleagues," Grim wrote.
The journalist wrote that Ocasio-Cortez had a rough relationship with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), beginning from their first meeting. Ocasio-Cortez and Pelosi clashed over the New York congresswoman's use of "Abolish ICE" and her participation in a sit-in to push for Democrats to focus more on climate change — two things Grim said led to "irreconcilable" differences between the Democratic leader and one of the party's youngest members.
"While somebody like Obama wants to be seen as being all things to all people, Ocasio-Cortez actually thinks she can be all things to all people while leading a political revolution," Grim wrote. "She believed she could occupy the Speaker's office and have Pelosi appreciate it."
Tensions between the former speaker and Ocasio-Cortez only grew after the New York liberal was overlooked for the House Ways and Means Committee. Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Pelosi offered her a seat on the committee, but she turned it down, Grim wrote.
One of the most damning mudslinging moments came when Ocasio-Cortez said that, under Pelosi's rule as House speaker, there had been an "explicit singling out of newly elected women of color" — which the longtime California Democrat adamantly denied.
Grim wrote that Ocasio-Cortez angered establishment Democrats when she initially supported Sen. Bernie Sander (I-VT) in the 2020 election before switching to now-President Joe Biden when he won the Democratic Party's nomination.
The journalist said when Ocasio-Cortez tried to extend "personal warmth" to her colleagues, they grew "more suspicious of her."
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They could "not accept and even have a working relationship with someone from a different party faction," Grim wrote.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Ocasio-Cortez's office for comment.