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Upstart Democratic Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says yes, and the Yorktown High School graduate's brutal honesty remains a cornerstone of her campaign strength.
The 28-year-old Ocasio-Cortez is blasting cynics questioning her working class roots as "a girl from the Bronx," following the revelation she moved to upscale Westchester County when she was age 5, as reported here by Daily Voice.
John Cardillo, a host of Newsmax's "America Talks Live," shared a picture of Ocasio-Cortez’s childhood home in Yorktown Heights, claiming she lived there until she went to attend Brown University. (The winner of the Congressional primary actually attended Boston University.)
“This is the Yorktown Heights (very nice area) home @Ocasio2018 grew up in before going off to Ivy League Brown University,” Cardillo tweeted. “A far cry from the Bronx hood upbringing she’s selling.”
Ocasio-Cortez fired back at Cardillo, saying she did not attend Brown University or any other Ivy League school. “Try Google," Ocasio-Cortez said.
Since her upset win, Ocasio-Cortez has received national -- and international -- media coverage. She appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," on Sunday and on CBS's "Late Show With Stephen Colbert."
Asked about President Trump, who tweeted about her upset win, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out he's a native of Queens, and her district includes part of Queens as well as the Bronx.
"I don't think he knows how to deal with a girl from the Bronx," she told Colbert.
Watch the video of the interview here.
Ocasio-Cortez explained in a statement to DailyMail.com on Sunday that her family scraped together money for a small home in Yorktown Heights, so she could go to public school there, but that her father and other family remained in the Bronx.
She lived in the Bronx's Parkchester apartments before moving to Yorktown Heights to attend a better public school than what was available in the Bronx at that time, according to her campaign website.
The self-proclaimed Democratic socialist is running as a Democrat in New York’s 14th Congressional District, which encompasses the Bronx and Queens, after defeating 10-term U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley last week.
“My mom scrubbed toilets so I could live here & I grew up seeing how the zip code one is born in determines much of their opportunity,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote, noting that she grew up partially in a working-class neighborhood.
"A major part of my story, and what I've shared with my neighbors throughout this campaign, is that I grew up between two worlds,' Ocasio-Cortez said.
"At a young age, my entire extended family (aunts, grandparents, etc) chipped in on a down payment for a small home in Yorktown so I could go to public school there. My mom was as a house cleaner for other people in the town so we could get by," she said.
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