AOC 'pledges allegiance to the drag' as guest judge on 'Ru Paul's Drag Race’
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, will be a guest judge for Season 12 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” to select “America’s Next Drag Superstar,” to be premiered in two parts on Feb. 28 and March 6 on VH1.
“I am SO excited for the new season. Thank you @RuPaulsDragRace for having me!” the 30-year-old freshman congresswoman tweeted to her more than 6 million followers, featuring a video clip posted by “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” in which she says, “I’m Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and I pledge allegiance to the drag.”
The series will have 13 cross-dressing contestants. “Each episode will give the audience a more intimate look at the new queens as they pledge their allegiance to the drag,” the show said in a statement.
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The series will include guest-judge appearances also by singers Nicki Minaj, Robyn, Chaka Khan and Normani; “The View” co-host and Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg; comedian and “Saturday Night Live” alum Leslie Jones; actors Jeff Goldblum, Daisy Ridley, Thandie Newton, Olivia Munn, Rachel Bloom, Daniel Franzese and Jonathan Bennett; and model and vitiligo spokesperson Winnie Harlow, according to the New York Post.
In 2018, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, was featured in an episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.”
Soon after being sworn in, Ocasio-Cortez told her followers that it was a “good moment to support the queer community,” specifically Mermaids, a U.K.-based group that pushes trans-ideology. The group is headed by Susie Green, who gained notoriety for taking her 16-year-old son to Thailand to be castrated.
After Ocasio-Cortez voiced her support for Mermaids, which encourages the use of puberty blockers and experimental drugs on children suffering gender dysphoria, the group announced on Twitter that they had raised over $275,000 (£213,000), in part due to Ocasio-Cortez’s involvement.
The group has amassed enough influential power in the U.K. that even law enforcement has targeted its critics. The Christian Post reported in 2018 that feminist activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, who's also known as Posie Parker, was interrogated by police for tweeting her disapproval of Green's decision to take her son to Thailand for a sex change operation. She was specifically targeted for having tweeted the word "castration."
U.K. Starbucks locations also recently started a new advertising campaign called #whatsyourname in partnership with Mermaids to celebrate “the significance it can have for some transgender and gender diverse people as they use their new name in public.”
Ocasio-Cortez is also known for sponsoring what is known as the “Green New Deal,” an environmental proposal that calls for the elimination of carbon emissions and transitioning the U.S. to solely renewable energy in 10 years. The plan is billed as an effort to combat the threat of climate change. An actual phrase in the proposal reads: “We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren’t sure that we’ll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast.”
The resolution includes a proposal to provide “economic security” for those who are both unable and “unwilling” to work. The beneficiaries would get vacations, a monthly salary and a lifetime pension.
The inclusion of the term “unwilling to work” was roundly disparaged on social media by conservative commentators.
A frequently-asked-questions document that accompanied the bill reads: “The Federal Reserve can extend credit to power these projects and investments and new public banks can be created to extend credit. There is also space for the government to take an equity stake in projects to get a return on investment.”
