State of the Union: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bringing woman who cornered Jeff Flake at Brett Kavanaugh hearing as her guest
The woman, Ana Maria Archila, confronted Mr Flake after he announced he would vote in favour of Mr Kavanaugh's confirmation
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Your support makes all the difference.Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has invited the woman who cornered former Senator Jeff Flake in an elevator during a viral moment at the height of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanauagh’s confirmation hearings last year, to be her guest during Donald Trump’s upcoming State of the Union.
The State of the Union is often seen as a moment to register symbolic protest through guests who highlight differences between the president and those in the opposition party, like Ms Ocasio-Cortez.
The choice of Ana Maria Archila to attend the yearly event was announced in a video posted by the Centre for Popular Democracy, where she works as the co-executive director.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez tells Ms Archila in the video that she had purchased matching pins for them to wear in the Capitol — and those pins don the message that “well-behaved women rarely make history”.
Ms Archila’s moment with Mr Flake in the elevator quickly spread online, and highlighted the intense controversy brought about during Mr Kavanaugh’s confirmation after he was accused by Dr Christine Blasey Ford of having groped her during a party while they were both teenagers.
The confrontation that went viral came after Mr Flake announced he would not win favour of Mr Kavanaugh’s confirmation, in spite of the allegations rain by Dr Blasey Ford and others.
“He need to understand that women feel incredibly enraged about the thought of our stories, of our experiences of surviving sexual violence being dismissed, laughed at, disbelieved, and I think I just felt a great sense of urgency and I think I saw in his face that he could not escape the emotion,” Ms Archila told CNN after the encounter.
The State of the Union is scheduled for Tuesday night, and was postponed as a result of the government shutdown that was ended last month after 35 days.
In addition to Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s chosen guest, other prominent freshman representatives have chosen high profile guests to attend with them. Representative Ilhan Omar, for instance, has chosen a Liberian immigrant facing possible deportation as her companion in a clear demonstration against the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies.
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