Socialist Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York faced fierce backlash when she attempted to compare the protests in Iran against the hijab to that of pro-abortion efforts in the United States.
Ocasio-Cortez made the comparison in a tweet issued on Friday.
Protests have erupted across the Muslim world after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being arrested by the Iranian morality police over reportedly failing to follow rules about wearing the hijab. The law enforcement officials have been accused of beating her while she was detained, but they have denied those allegations.
Many were offended at the attempt by Ocasio-Cortez to equate the two political movements.
“[T]he sick delusional motivation to westernize and highjack Amini’s death is disgusting. No, there is no comparison in the west. Stop comparing your ‘struggle’ to theirs. It’s not the same and it’s disgusting,” read one response.
“Using the Iranian struggle for freedom to bolster her abortion stance. Classy,” responded another critic.
“There’s no connection btwn Hijabs and abortion. Shut up if you had nothing good to say about the Iranian women instead of soiling their demonstrations with your dirty far left nonsense,” read another response.
“So, allowing women to choose not to where the hijab will lead to widespread elective abortion in Iran? Way to go, moron. You just gave the mullahs more reason to crack down on the protestors,” pointed out another critic.
Some of the protests against the hijab have been met with violent repression by state police. Videos of the altercations have been posted to social media to bolster the worldwide effort to oppose laws enforcing the hijab and other religious garb.
“Iranians may be silenced by their government, but that does not mean the world has to be silent,” tweeted Iranian-American journalist Yashar Ali about the violence.
Reporting by The Blaze.
