AOC Calls Caravan of Trump Supporters on NYC Bridge a 'Pileup of Chumps'

Authored by newsweek.com and submitted by Zhana-Aul

As the presidential election approaches, there has been a noticeable increase in parades of vehicles flying flags in support of President Donald Trump. From one coast to another, pro-Trump vehicles have backed up traffic for miles and miles. There have also been pro-Trump boat parades along the country's coastlines.

One tweet Sunday shows such backed-up vehicle traffic on New York City's Whitestone Bridge, which is the portion of Interstate-678 connecting Queens with the Bronx over the East River. In the caption, it reads: "I hope AOC isn't using the Whitestone Bridge today there is a lot of traffic!" The tweet has an American flag emoji behind it.

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—whose district includes the northern part of Queens and eastern part of The Bronx—responded by calling the Trump supporters "a pileup of chumps."

"I took the [Throgs] Neck. Heard there was a pileup of chumps on the Whitestone," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

I took the Throggs Neck. Heard there was a pileup of chumps on the Whitestone https://t.co/Vbaug6OLjy — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 1, 2020

The Throgs Neck Bridge also crosses the East River, but via Interstate-275. The Twitter user AOC responded to has the moniker "Chump for Trump" as part of the handle that has 53,000 followers.

Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

New York is not considered to be a swing state for the presidential election, as it typically selects a Democrat. California is the same way, but that hasn't stopped loads of Trump supporters from lining the streets and waving flags, like this scene Saturday in Beverly Hills.

My friend and I went to check out the Trump rally in Beverly Hills today and found a huge crowd of very enthusiastic and very diverse supporters. I don't know exactly how many, but someone said it was 10,000 or more. Some wearing masks, some not. #BeverlyHills #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/oZSvRCRd5w — Alana Stewart (@AlanaKStewart) November 1, 2020

This weekend in Austin, Texas—another Democratic stronghold in an otherwise conservative state—many vehicles sporting Trump flags surrounded a bus for the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris campaign. The bus was en route to Austin, where an event was to be held to drum up support for Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Katie Naranjo, who is the Democratic Party chair in Travis County, said the Trump supporters in Austin were trying to "bully" and "intimidate" Biden supporters.

"Today, @realDonaldTrump supporters followed the Biden bus throughout central Texas to intimidate Biden supporters. They ran into a person's car, yelling curse words and threats. Don't let bullies win, vote," Naranjo tweeted on Friday.

Today, @realDonaldTrump supporters followed the Biden bus throughout central Texas to intimidate Biden supporters. They ran into a person's car, yelling curse words and threats. Don't let bullies win, vote. pic.twitter.com/CIyEWwbvqU — Katie Naranjo (@KatieNaranjo) October 30, 2020

Democrat activists said Trump supporters were trying to "box in" the Biden-Harris bus.

Trump on Saturday tweeted a video of the scene in Austin, saying "I Love Texas."

Ocasio-Cortez's comments come a little more than four years after 2016 Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters a "basket of deplorables." Republican voters turned that into a rallying cry to get out the vote for Trump, who defeated Clinton in the last presidential election.

hellscaper on November 2nd, 2020 at 01:37 UTC »

Are these the caravans Trump warned us about?

thataintrealbro on November 2nd, 2020 at 01:11 UTC »

Oh, no! She just lost the xenophobic, corporatist authoritarian vote!

th1961 on November 2nd, 2020 at 01:09 UTC »

She's correct and I can't wait for this shit to be over.