AOC Stumbles in Munich When Asked About Major Foreign Policy Issue

During a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference Friday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) stumbled over a question about how the United States should respond if China invades Taiwan.

The New York congresswoman was joined by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker on the panel moderated by Bloomberg TV’s Francine Lacqua.

Lacqua asked several questions about China (starting at around the 22-minute mark in the video above), asking each of the panelists if the communist country should be viewed “primarily” as “an economic competitor, a military threat, or an ideological adversary?”

When it was Ocasio-Cortez’s turn, she said that China was “of course, an ascending global power, growing very quickly,” and “acting in its own self-interest.”

She added that the “rhetoric” in Washington, D.C., “can get a little conflict-driven,” but she thought it was “really a question of competition,” specifically “fair competition,” as Whitmer had just mentioned, and elaborated about how the U.S. could better compete with China, making specific criticisms of President Donald Trump’s administration:

I think about how the United States, if you want to assert oneself as a global competitor, the kinds of things that one would do in order to really assert that position, is investments in science and technology, which we are gutting our NIH, we are gutting our health science research, we are cutting the very things that make us a global power and that respect, in terms of government and public research, which is what allows innovation in a more broad sense, as opposed to privatized research.

An ascendant global power would invest heavily in innovative energy solutions so that it could be sovereign in terms of — in that respect. And the United States, at this point, instead of expanding our energy mix, we are actively narrowing our energy mix to become increasingly more reliant on fossil fuels, instead of — in contrast of what you are seeing in China.

Yes, they burn a large amount of fossil fuels but they’ve invested dramatically in wind and solar and in energy innovation. And so, to me I see this as a question of competition and, of course, of trade, to the governor’s point, but we have to make sure we are having a reflective conversation about how are we positioning ourselves to continue to offer the world the best of what America has to offer.

Lacqua then asked the panelists, “Would and should the U.S. actually commit U.S. troops to defend Taiwan, if China were to move?”

Ocasio-Cortez’s response to this question was notably less polished than her previous answer, with numerous pauses as she got going:

Umm, you know, I think that, uh — this is such a, a — you know, I think that — this is a, umm — this is, of course, uh, a very longstanding, umm, policy of the United States, uh, and I think that what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure we never get to that point, and we want to make sure we are moving in all of our economic, research, and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise.

Watch the video above via C-SPAN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!