Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez invites woman who confronted Jeff Flake to the State of the Union
The woman who confronted former Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation is headed back to Congress, this time to attend the State of the Union.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has invited activist Ana Maria Archila as her guest for Tuesday's speech, The Intercept reports. During the contentious Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, Archila, who identified herself as a survivor of sexual assault, cornered the then-senator in an elevator alongside another woman and implored him not to support Kavanaugh's confirmation in light of the sexual assault allegations against him. After being broadcast live on CNN, the confrontation went viral. Flake that same day pushed for an additional FBI investigation into Kavanaugh, who denied the allegations, but ultimately voted in favor of confirming him.
Archila, who is the co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy Action and is from the district Ocasio-Cortez represents, told The Intercept that is she is "moved" by the congresswoman's decision to invite her and to shed a light back on "my confrontation with the men who do not understand the life of women and the lives of people who are not in power."
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It's typical for members of Congress to invite State of the Union guests who help them make a political statement, and other attendees Democrats have invited to Trump's speech this year include a government worker affected by the shutdown, a mother and daughter who were separated at the border, and a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, per CNN.
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