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Do you think the news media is fair in its coverage of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
- Yes, they favor her just right
- No, they favor her too much
- No, they give her unfavorable coverage
- No opinion
She isn't rich, but she is a rising political star among supporters and envious critics.
Separately, the newly elected New York City congresswoman took a hit from former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin for misspeaking about the three branches of government.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who graduated from Yorktown High School, heads to the U.S. House of Representatives with some common millennial money worries. She recently struggled to pay the rental deposit on an apartment in Washington, D.C. and reportedly had to dip into her savings to move.
The 29-year-old Democrat, who became the youngest woman elected to Congress on Nov. 6, has less than $7,000 in savings, CNBC reported on Tuesday.
While some people criticized her for having so little in savings, a multitude of millennials tweeted support for her financial situation, or were shocked that her balance was that large.
She said she'd have trouble affording an apartment in the Washington, D.C., area until her new $174,000-a-year salary begins in January.
About 43 percent of millennials have less than $5,000 saved for retirement, according to an October survey from Provision Living.
A spokesman for Ocasio-Cortez told CNBC she has had to dip into her savings while campaigning full time this year after she quit her job as a bartender in February. She has $15,000 to $50,000 in student-loan debt and made $26,600 in 2017, according to federal campaign filings.
On her Twitter account, Ocasio-Cortez struck back at conservatives who criticized her for being candid about her finances.
“The actual fear driving the attacks on my clothes, my checking account, my rent, isn’t that these folks are scared that I shouldn’t represent people in Congress,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported about an Ocasio-Cortez gaffe that drew the ire of former Alaska Gov. Palin.
Palin made fun of this online interview with Ocasio-Cortez.
In the video clip, she spoke of Democratic efforts to win all “three chambers of Congress” in 2020 — then immediately corrected herself to say, “all three chambers of government: the presidency, the Senate and the House,” which was still inaccurate.
“YIKES,” wrote Palin -- almost instantly earning herself a 2-to-1 Twitter ratio of followers pointing out Palin's many historical gaffes.
Ocacio-Cortez replied with her own smackdown, tweeting: “Now that’s *TWO* fallen GOP Vice Pres candidates going after a freshman Congresswoman that’s not even sworn in yet. . . .Isn’t it a little early to be bringing out the big guns? Especially when they look like the FWD:RE:FWD:WATCH THIS grandpa emails from the ‘08 election they lost.”
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