Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez received harsh backlash after posting about a terror attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., last week.

The New York Democrat condemned the attack and antisemitism, but her message was rejected by many who pointed to her past remarks on the war in Gaza. Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly made unsubstantiated accusations against Israel of committing genocide in its war against the terror group Hamas.

“Absolutely nothing justifies the murder of innocents. I am devastated by the killing of two people outside an @AJCGlobal event here in Washington. Our prayers are with the victims, families, and loved ones of all impacted,” Ocasio-Cortez post on X. “As we await more details, we must be clear that hatred has no home here. Antisemitism is a threat to all we hold dear as a society. It must be confronted and rooted out everywhere.”

Commenters ripped her for hypocrisy. One quipped on the congresswoman’s post: “Match-lighter Condemns Blaze.”

Arsen Ostrovsky, CEO of The International Legal Forum, responded to Ocasio-Cortez: “‘Two people’? They were two JEWS. And more specifically, worked at the Israeli Embassy. These are pertinent details. Maybe you ought to be more mindful of your relentless inflammatory rhetoric, that only emboldens the kinds of perpetrators from tonight’s heinous attack.”

American Principles Project President Terry Schilling called on Ocasio-Cortez to apologize for her past rhetoric against Israel. “You need to apologize for your complicity. Stochastic terrorism and all,” he said.

Stephen Miller, contributing editor at The Spectator, pointed out that, according to the FBI, the shooter yelled “Free Palestine” after killing Israeli Yaron Lischinsky and American Sarah Lynn Milgrim on Wednesday.

Ocasio-Cortez has often expressed sympathy and support for the “free Palestine” cause. In 2019, Ocasio-Cortez excused violence from Palestinians against Israel by accusing Israel of “occupation” in Judea and Samaria where terrorism is prevalent through Palestinian society.

“I believe that injustice is a threat to the safety of all people, because once you have a group that is marginalized and marginalized and marginalized — once someone doesn’t have access to clean water, they have no choice but to riot, right?” she said in an interview on “Ebro in the Morning.”

In more recent comments, Ocasio-Cortez has accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza after Hamas committed the single deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

“As we speak, in this moment, 1.1 million innocents in Gaza are at famine’s door,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a speech on the House floor in March 2024. “A famine that is being intentionally precipitated through the blocking of food and global humanitarian assistance by leaders in the Israeli government.”

“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like,” she added, “open your eyes.”

Throughout the course of the war, Israel has allowed outside aid to flow into Gaza, often consisting of hundreds of aid trucks a day. The aid has often been stolen by terrorists once inside Gaza, however. Israel has blamed ineffective distribution systems run by the United Nations for aiding terrorists in Gaza.

Israel has recently relaxed a freeze on aid into the territory, however, trucks entering Gaza are still being attacked and looted by armed men once inside Gaza, risking the aid falling again into the hands of Hamas.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is defending the House-passed version of President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” from criticism that it would dangerously inflate the national debt from Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).

Speaking on “Fox News Sunday” with anchor Shannon Bream, moments after Paul’s interview on the same program, Johnson diplomatically rebutted the senator’s claims that the bill features “wimpy and anemic” spending cuts and poses a national security threat by “exploding” the national debt.

“I agree wholeheartedly with what my dear friend, Rand Paul, said. I love his conviction and I share it. The national debt is … the greatest threat to our national security and deficits are a serious problem,” the speaker said. “What I think Rand is missing on this one is the fact that we are quite serious about this. This is the biggest spending cut, Shannon, in more than 30 years, we’re going to cut over $1.5 trillion in spending, and it’s a big leap forward.”

He continued: “The last time we had a spending cut was three decades ago, and it was only 800 billion, even adjusted for inflation. This is the biggest spending cut, I think, in the history of government on planet earth. Now, is it enough? Of course not. But we have a very delicate balance and we have to start the process. I liken this to an aircraft carrier. You don’t turn an aircraft carrier on a dime. It takes a mile of open ocean. And so, it took us decades to get into this situation. This is a big step to begin to turn that aircraft carrier.”

The speaker also took a moment to address “one important point” made by Paul.

“It sounds like his biggest objection is the fact that we are extending the debt ceiling,” Johnson said. “That’s a critically important thing to do. We have to do it. We’re not going to get any Democrats to assist on that. So, to get it through the Senate and make sure we don’t crash the U.S. economy and default on our debts for the first time in history, it has to be part of the reconciliation package. And that’s why the president, Trump, and all the other Republicans in Congress, House and Senate, understand the necessity of this.”

He added: “Real quick, important point here. It does not mean that we’re going to spend more money. We’re extending the debt ceiling to show to creditors, the bond markets, the stock market, that the Congress is serious about this. President Trump is dialed in 100%. He is a visionary leader. He does not want to spend more money. And he has the same concern about the national debt that Rand Paul and I do. That’s why we’re not going to be spending to that level. We’re just sending a message to our creditors around the world that we’re serious about all of this.”

Paul, who lamented that the U.S. deficit remains about $2.2 trillion, said he would consider backing the legislation if its proposed $4-5 trillion debt ceiling increase is removed.

“There’s got to be someone left in Washington who thinks debt is wrong and deficits are wrong and wants to go in the other direction,” he said. “The idea that we’re going to explode deficits and the projections are now looking at over $3 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years. I think it’s just … not a serious proposal.”