Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blames New York City crime surge on the economy.
In a virtual town hall meeting Ocasio-Cortez hosted Thursday, the Democratic congresswoman was asked about the troubling spike in violent crimes skyrocketing in New York City.
“Do we think this has to do with the fact that there’s record unemployment in the United States right now? The fact that people are at a level of economic desperation that we have not seen since the great recession?” She said.
She claimed that people are forced to shoplift in order to "feed their child."
"Maybe this has to do with the fact that people aren't paying their rent and are scared to pay their rent and so they go out, and they need to feed their child and they don't have money," Ocasio-Cortez continued, "so they feel like they either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry.”