Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says Donald Trump is racist: 'Yeah, no question'

'Look at how he reacted to the Charlottesville incident, where neo-Nazis murdered a woman, versus how he manufactures crises like immigrants seeking legal refuge on our borders'

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said there is “no question” that Donald Trump is racist.

The newly sworn-in Democratic congresswoman gave an unequivocal response after being questioned about the president during a CBS News interview.

Asked by Anderson Cooper if she believed Mr Trump “is a racist”, she replied: “Yeah, yeah, no question.

“When you look at the words that he uses, which are historic dog whistles of white supremacy, when you look at how he reacted to the Charlottesville incident, where neo-Nazis murdered a woman, versus how he manufactures crises like immigrants seeking legal refuge on our borders, it’s night and day.”

The 29-year-old Representative, who last week became the youngest woman elected to congress, said the president was “a symptom of the problem.”

“The president certainly didn’t invent racism, but he’s certainly given a voice to it and expanded it and created a platform for those things,” the New Yorker added.

In response to the comments, a White House spokesman said: “Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s sheer ignorance on the matter can’t cover the fact that President Trump supported and passed historic criminal justice reform and has repeatedly condemned racism and bigotry in all forms.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, seen as a rising star in her party, has repeatedly attracted the ire of Republican politicians and right-wing media since her shock primary win last year over incumbent New York congressman Joe Crowley.

She claimed to be the only Democrat booed by Republicans while voting her Nancy Pelosi as House speaker last week.

The staunch left-winger’s progressive policies, such as a 60 to 70 per cent tax on super rich Americans, have also ruffled feathers in her own party. Last year moderate Democrat senator Chris Coons warned a shift to the left would make it “difficult for us to make a credible case that we should be allowed to govern again and easier and easier to mock and marginalise us”.

Asked by Mr Cooper how she would pay for her policies, Ms Ocasio-Cortez suggested there was a double standard in the scrutiny of socialist proposals.

“No one asks how we’re gonna pay for this ‘space force‘, she said, in reference to Mr Trump’s desire for an extraterrestrial branch of the military.

She added: “No one asked how we paid for a $2 trillion tax cut. We only ask how we pay for it on issues of housing, healthcare and education. How do we pay for it? With the same exact mechanisms that we pay for military increases for this space force. For all of these ambitious policies.”