Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was widely mocked after what observers say was, during comments she made on paid maternity leave, her bizarre comparison between raising puppies and newborn children.
During a House Oversight Committee hearing, the socialist New York Democrat made the odd comment “to counter a conservative nonprofit organization’s argument about free markets providing paid family leave,” RedState’s Sister Toldjah noted in a Dec. 11 op-ed.
Ocasio-Cortez said during the hearing: “Do we know how long puppies are allowed to stay with their mothers after a dog has given birth. Uh, eight weeks. So, the market has decided that women and people who give birth deserve less time with their children than a dog.”
Those trying to make sense of AOC’s assertion said she was likely referring to the practice of dog breeders keeping puppies until they reach 8 weeks of age before selling them.
Ocasio-Cortez’s comments came in response to Heritage Foundation scholar Rachel Greszler, who had advocated businesses and workers negotiating their own terms for wages and paid leave.
Radio host Jason Rantz noted that AOC “appears to suggest that dogs are given rights to raise their puppies for a certain length of time. Uhmm...?”
AOC doubled down in a later tweet, writing: “Puppies aren’t separated from their moms until ~8 weeks. Less than that is thought of as harmful or abusive. One of the most common lengths of US paid family leave is ~6 weeks. So yes, when we “let the market decide”on parental leave, “the market” treats people worse than dogs.”
Among the responses to AOC’s tweet:
“Anything that's free, eh? Puppies aren't human infants, and babies aren't separated from their mothers. Once a mother goes back to work she gets to go home at the end of her work day to spend the next 16 hours with her baby, weekends too. Where do you come up with this stuff?”
“The party of abortion, standing up for the rights of new mothers? We're officially through the looking glass.”
“So small business owners have to pay for this???? Between this and minimum wage your going to put 15 million+ Americans out of work!!”
Greszler later wrote on why she believed a federal paid family leave program would be a bad idea, while also ripping Ocasio-Cortez and explaining why the puppies-children comparison is both wrong and insulting:
As a woman who gave birth to six children and is raising them, I find being compared to a breeding dog incredibly offensive.As RedState’s Sister Toldjah noted: “There are times when a politician says things that are so mind-numbingly stupid that you don’t really have to add any commentary to it. The words just speak for themselves.
Earlier this week at a hearing held by the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said the government should require at least eight weeks of paid maternity leave because puppies get eight weeks with their dog-mothers.
It’s also a terrible comparison, considering that puppies are taken from their mothers and sold after eight weeks (most states require an eight-week period for vaccination purposes). These puppies also never get to meet their fathers.
“So far in the last week AOC is 0 for 3. On falsely accusing President Donald Trump of anti-Semitism, on her dishonest bragging about a recent Amazon NYC jobs announcement, and now this.”
Free Press International
