At a House Financial Services Committee hearing on March 26, Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) invited Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "to come to Eastern Kentucky, where thousands of coal miners no longer have paychecks," and listen as they "tell you what the Green New Deal would mean for their families, their paychecks." Ocasio-Cortez, one of the leading proponents of the Green New Deal, said she'd be "happy" to go.
Last Friday, Barr added some conditions to the invitation, asking Ocasio-Cortez "to apologize for her comments to our colleague" Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) "before she plans her trip to Kentucky." He cited her criticism of Crenshaw's criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), explaining, "We need to treat all of our colleagues with respect and dignity." Not everyone is convinced civility concerns prompted Barr to effectively disinvite Ocasio-Cortez. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), for example, told a local Kentucky news station he didn't "see any upside" to bringing Ocasio-Cortez to Kentucky, explaining that she is very smart and "I think a lot of Republicans are making a mistake picking on her."
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