It has been nearly five months since the insurrection attempt on the Capitol. The federal government is finally rounding up the perpetrators and has so far charged 944 people. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been outspoken about how January 6th affected her. AOC has even stated that she doesn’t trust some of the Republican members of congress. In an episode of NPR’s Latino USA, AOC discussed how she has been going to therapy to work through the trauma of the insurrection. AOC also says that she is taking the time to slow down and really process what she went through on that day. Below are a few more highlights from the podcast via People:
On Friday, the New York congresswoman appeared on the Latino USA podcast and spoke about being in therapy to cope with the trauma she experienced during the insurrection. “You have this transition period of escalating violence, which really culminated on the 6th, for which was an extraordinarily traumatizing event that’s not really being discussed,” she said.
“After the 6th, I took some time and it was really [Rep.] Ayanna Pressley when I explained to her what happened to me, like the day of, because I ran to her office,” AOC explained. “And she was like, ‘You need to recognize trauma. And this is something that you went through, but we’re all going through. And it’s really important to pause after that, because that’s how you process it.’ ”
Ocasio-Cortez said she “learned this the hard way,” comparing the aftermath of Jan. 6 to coping with the death of her father when she was in college. “That happened at a young age, and I locked it away,” the Boston University alum continued. “I had to live with that for years, and so, I learned my lesson then. And now, I feel like I’ve had to take a beat.”
“Oh yeah, I’m doing therapy but also I’ve just slowed down,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “I think the Trump administration had a lot of us, especially Latino communities, in a very reactive mode.”
AOC is outspoken and I don’t blame her for continually beating the drum about the insurrection. The U.S. government is not taking the incident as seriously as they should. Several members of Congress and the Senate should have been barred from the chambers and Trump should be in jail by now. The House has passed a bill to create a commission to investigate the insurrection but it’s thought that it will die in the Senate. It freaks me out that our government has otherwise gone quiet about the insurrection and that is absolutely dangerous. I was traumatized watching the events take place from the comfort of my own home, I could only imagine what AOC and the others who were actually at the Capitol felt. Our government and law enforcement have let the American people down. I am glad that AOC has sought therapy to work through her trauma and hope she continues to call out lawmakers who were complicit and may have provided material aid. Law and order means that people in positions of power should be held as responsible as their constituency when they commit acts of treason.
photos credit: Avalon.red
That was my thought watching at home, how absolutely traumatizing it must have been for everyone there.
All I could think of was that they were experiencing what we put school children through almost daily. Even the drills. I knew some would understand that and feel that. And that many wouldn’t remotely care.
I can’t even imagine the trauma they all experienced that day, but especially for AOC – she knows they would have killed her. She knows if they had gotten to her, she would be dead. That’s not true for every person in those chambers. But for AOC, Pelosi, and a few others it is true. And it seems Republicans are okay with that, and way more Dems are “okay-ish” with that than should be. They tried to take over the government and it seems like most Americans just moved on because they failed.
I’m glad she is working it out in therapy, I don’t think most people could process that kind of experience on their own.
Yes to all of this. They really tried to kill her!! A horde of people was serious about hunting her down!! In the days after the break-in I told a friend I *prayed* AOC was already in therapy — this is big, big trauma that no one could possibly be equipped to handle alone.
Quit calling it an insurrection for starters. What happened on January 6th was a terrorist attack. If the perps had not been so uniformly white, I am certain that is what it would have been labelled.
It was a bunch of stupid rednecks throwing a temper tantrum, egged on by their loser leader.
Bless her, she’s doing good work.
I can only imagine the trauma she is dealing with. On top of constantly being confronted by crazies like Marjorie Taylor Green. Those insurrectionists definitely wanted her dead.
AOC is a hero of mine and I worry about her. She’s faced so much harassment from her own peers and I truly believe if those awful traitors found her on January 6, she would’ve been killed. Good for her for getting therapy to try to process the trauma of that day. I hope she’s doing okay.
I fear that sharing vulnerability like this will hurt her. Maybe it’s regressive of me but a woman that’s already so targeted needs to be publicly conveying indestructibility or else all the misogynists, racists, rightwingers and edge-lords start playing on the cracks. And that’s not to mention the political rivals who’ll use it against her in elections. Again maybe that’s a consequence of my own toxic programming but I still have the note my mum gave me on my first day of my first post-college job – “never show them your tears, save them for me”. And honestly reading how other women have felt penalized for vulnerability at work, it was the best career advice
I really appreciate that she keeps reminding us of the Capitol attack. The GOP want to bury it with other news; they want us all to forget that they tried to overthrow our government. AOC is making sure they don’t get away with it.
I respect her consistency. Most of the politicians are not as consistent. She stays on message whether you agree with her or not.
I appreciate her consistency, both with condemning the insurrection and holding peoples feet to the fire and refusing to meet with Jewish community leaders in her area
She is so unpopular with Republicans and the right that expressing trauma and vulnerability about Jan. 6th will only make the events seem more overblown and exaggerated to them. The stain is fading, the broken windows repaired, the right wants to be forgiven for a bit of “rowdiness” and “high-spiritedness”. Like it was just passion for America that made a bunch of good-hearted people lose their tempers… I am being soooo sarcastic here. This will probably be brushed under the carpet and the final punishments will seem like a slap on the wrist for the true scale of this travesty. And until the right side of the American political spectrum wakes to their delusions of grandeur and gets over their feelings, nothing good will come out of this awful time for democracy.
Spot on post. I despise the “Trumplican” party. Patriots they are not. Yet, they spout they are from the rooftops. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so despicable. They show themselves for who they really are every day, it’s a a hate-filled, un-American party, and completely amoral, with zero humanity as they claim their so-called love of Jesus.
Amazing, strong woman. I am sad that she has to face such a constant barrage of white male hatred. She is very brave.
I can’t believe that there is not more outrage. And loons like Greene are still spitting their their toxic trash.
Depressing, isn’t it? Frightening also.
My gosh, what strength and courage. Stating that out loud is healing for more than herself. True public service is done in this way and I wish there were more like her.
Uhhh…the government IS taking it seriously. It’s the complicit Republicans who are determined to obstruct. If the government wasn’t taking it seriously, there wouldn’t be 900+ people charged. I think there are investigations going on behind the scenes regarding who all is actively complicit for January 6th in Congress. Eventually that shoe will drop.
It doesn’t look like the government is taking it seriously. 944 people charged, but none of those at the top who colluded with the terrorists? Why is a commission needed to investigate criminal acts?