Stephen A. Smith has fired back at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she warned her social media followers that the TikTok ban ‘is 21st century fascism’ on the eve of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The leftist Congresswoman took to her Instagram story on Sunday to discuss the nationwide TikTok ban – and its later restoration – with her followers the day before the former president was sworn into the White House for a second time.
But she also went on to explain what she believed the ban – and the Republican party – really means for America’s future.
‘Well, we are on the eve of an authoritarian administration’ she said. ‘This is what 21st century fascism is starting to look like.
‘Republicans really model themselves after Orban’s Hungary and so you can look to see how Viktor Orban runs Hungary to get a taste of how they will try to govern and control media and companies in the United States.’
ESPN star Smith, who has become increasingly vocal around politics since Trump’s election win back in November, hit back at AOC and said her comments are exactly why the Democrats lost.
Stephen A. Smith has fired back at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s latest Donald Trump criticism
AOC said the TikTok ban ‘is 21st century fascism’ on the eve of Trump’s inauguration
Smith played AOC’s comments on his YouTube show and explained: ‘While we’re looking to see what Trump does, we already know what the left has done which is why we’ve tired of hearing stuff like this from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
‘Did you say control the media AOC? By the way, I appreciate your work and what you do for your constituents in The Bronx. But did you talk about controlling the media?
‘So the left has had no control, huh? So the left has not engaged in bullying tactics, so “woke” culture didn’t exist?
‘Where people had to make sure they echoed the right pronoun in order to keep their job security. Where you had to sit and, God forbid, you literally challenged somebody with regards to transgender issues you were considered to be transphobic.
‘Where one minute we were called upon to protect the young women in our society and then that got thrown out the window the second a male was transitioning to female and wanted to participate in female sports and then all of a sudden there wasn’t any consistency with the stuff that had been spewed beforehand and ultimately enforced.
‘So now it’s the Republicans we need to be worried about? But not y’all? Y’all would never do such a thing. Oh my goodness. It would never be you. That would never happen. Really?
‘This is exactly why Trump is in office. Racist, fascist and all these other names. That’s what you do when you’re on the left. Not paying attention to the fact that the vast majority of American people are tired of that.
‘When are you going to tell us a message we want to hear? Trump didn’t win the election. You all lost. You put him there and let me get real raw with this. It got so bad with Biden in office, racism was thrown aside.
‘Transgender issues don’t make up one per cent of this population. Black people make up nearly 40 per cent of this population and for the vast majority of the last few years that issue has been more important than issues pertaining to black people, it seemed. That is just the truth.’
Trump and wife Melania dance together at the Commander-in-Chief Ball in Washington, DC
AOC has been a polarizing figure ever since she upset powerful establishment Democrat Joe Crowley in a primary in 2018, winning a seat in the House at just 29 years old.
In November, the Congresswoman fueled speculation that she is planning to embark on a run for president in 2028 following Trump’s term.
Trump signed an executive order on Monday seeking to delay the TikTok ban by 75 days.
While signing the order, Trump suggested the U.S. government should be a half owner of TikTok’s U.S. business in return for keeping the app alive and warned that he could impose tariffs on China if Beijing failed to approve a U.S. deal with TikTok.
The executive order capped 48 hours of legal maneuvering and political intrigue that left millions of U.S. TikTokkers struggling for answers about the fate of their app.
Trump also pardoned nearly all of his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and issued a swathe of executive orders in the Oval Office.
He signed orders for increasing border security, designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, limiting birthright citizenship, freezing new regulations and establishing a task force for reducing the size of the federal government.
He also rescinded dozens of directives issued by Biden, including those relating to climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
