AOC Raised $5 Million for Texas Storm Relief, Visited Houston Food Banks

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s fundraising efforts for the people of Texas have surpassed $5 million, the Democrat announced Sunday night.

Ocasio-Cortez’s fundraiser to help those impacted by last week’s severe winter storm and its aftermath is just one aspect of the New York representative’s attempt to help those impacted by a mass power grid outage that left millions without power, heat, and safe drinking water.

“That’s the New York spirit, that’s the Texas spirit, and that’s the American spirit,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters on Saturday while working with other representatives in Houston at a local food bank. “When disaster strikes, this is not just an issue for Texans; this is an issue for our entire country.”

On Twitter, she stressed that “charity can’t replace policy,” but said, “solidarity is how we’ll face climate change and build a better world.”

The fundraiser, which raised money for local food banks and groups providing care to elders and the unhoused, was launched last Thursday. On Friday, Ocasio-Cortez announced she was flying to Houston to help distribute supplies. Ocasio-Cortez and other Democratic representatives Sylvia Garcia and Sheila Jackson Lee visited distribution centers, stopped by water delivery sites, and toured locations that were damaged by the storm.

While Ocasio-Cortez was launching this aid effort, Texas Senator Ted Cruz was caught up in a firestorm for abandoning his constituents — and his dog, who is poetically named Snowflake — for a trip to Cancún while many Texans faced power and water outages.

The same day Cruz returned to Houston, admitting that he “obviously” made a “mistake,” Ocasio-Cortez’s relief fundraiser raised $1 million.

The two lawmakers’ strikingly different responses speaks to the ideological gulf between them. To put it mildly, Cruz and Ocasio-Cortez don’t seem like they’re going to share a plate of Texas barbecue any time soon.

In fact, when Cruz offered to support the congresswoman’s call for a congressional hearing during the GameStop stock-trading frenzy, she rebutted that Cruz “almost had me murdered,” a reference to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building. She also called for his resignation — again. Ocasio-Cortez has previously called on Cruz to step down for encouraging the Donald Trump supporters who questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election and stormed the Capitol; he responded by calling the 31-year-old a “liar.”

Other lawmakers who have butted heads with Cruz also helped out with relief efforts last week. Beto O’Rourke, who unsuccessfully ran for Cruz’s Senate seat in 2018, held a virtual phone bank to check on Texas senior citizens and connect them to resources.

O’Rourke tweeted that volunteers made more than 784,000 phone calls the same Thursday Cruz was returning to Texas from Mexico.

Upon his return, Cruz tweeted photos of himself passing out bottled water to Texans, slicing brisket for a food distribution weekend, and posing with local law enforcement. But critics were quick to point out that people traveling from Mexico are supposed to get tested for COVID-19 three to five days after traveling and self-quarantine for seven days, something Cruz is obviously not doing. Photos Cruz tweeted show him shaking hands, sometimes without gloves.

“If Sen. Cruz had resigned back in January after helping gin up a violent insurrection that killed several people, he could’ve taken his vacation in peace,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet. “Texans should continue to demand his resignation.”

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