Ron DeSantis bemoans ‘political correctness run amok’ in flap with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

On Fox News Tuesday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis addressed his recent spat with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democratic congressional nominee who DeSantis lampooned in an Orange Park campaign stop last weekend.

“You look at this girl Ocasio-Cortez or whatever she is, I mean, she’s in a totally different universe,” DeSantis said. “It’s basically socialism wrapped in ignorance.”

Ocasio-Cortez capitalized on DeSantis’ remark on Twitter.

Rep DeSantis, it seems you‘re confused as to “whatever I am.”

I am a Puerto Rican woman. It‘s strange you don’t know what that is, given that ~75,000 Puerto Ricans have relocated to Florida in the 10 mos since María.

But I’m sure these new FL voters appreciate your comments! https://t.co/xJlroSe5Hs

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 23, 2018

In the days since DeSantis offered that quote, he’s been pilloried on the left. (Worth noting: primary opponent Adam Putnam has not messaged against DeSantis for remarks perceived in many quarters as misogynistic).

Fox News, a friendly venue, allowed DeSantis to get his side of the story out Wednesday morning.

“It’s not about identity politics,” said DeSantis. “She referred to herself as a ‘girl from the Bronx’ … she said ‘Trump can’t handle a girl from the Bronx’.”

“This is just political correctness run amok … a way to obscure scrutiny on her views, which are socialist and they’re wrapped in ignorance,” DeSantis added, noting that Florida has many people who have “fled from socialism” in Latin America.

“We understand socialism doesn’t work, and when you’re justifying it by saying ‘the unemployment rate is low because people are working multiple jobs’, it just shows that you don’t know what you’re talking about,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said he brought Ocasio-Cortez up in Orange Park because she’d been “slamming Israel repeatedly throughout her campaign … talking about the Israeli occupation of Palestine. But there’s no Palestinian state, there’s never been a Palestinian state.”

“She was asked to justify those views, and she couldn’t justify her views,” DeSantis said. “I think the socialism and the ignorance is a toxic combination.”