Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocks Fox News for hosting a panel to discuss her wardrobe

Newly elected Democrat says right-wing network is ‘obsessed’ with her

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has mocked Fox News for using a primetime television slot for a panel discussion centred around the newly elected Democrat’s clothing.

Ed Henry, Fox News’ chief national correspondent, and three political pundits talked about the fact a pair of Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s shoes are set to go on display at a Cornell University exhibition entitled Women Empowered: Fashions from the Frontline.

After a viewer alerted the incoming congresswoman to the debate, she responded with Spanish song lyrics by musical act Aventura translating as: “No, it’s not love, what you feel is called obsession.”

The rising political star said non-Spanish speakers could play Mariah Carey’s hit song “Obsession” instead – taking aim at the network for its frequent coverage of her.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, 29, will became the youngest woman in history to serve in Congress when she takes office in January.

The newcomer has been engaged in a war of words with Fox News ever since the network made jokes about her finances and clothing choices earlier this month.

A self-avowed socialist from the South Bronx, she quipped that the network “has made it clear that they are far superior to [and] more intelligent than me, who they’ve called a ‘little, simple person.’ ”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez originally tweeted about her “campaign shoes” back in June following her victory against Democrat stalwart Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th congressional district.

She said she had won the primary because her team “outworked the competition”.

The Cornell exhibit will feature her worn-out shoes and includes other items of clothing from women who have succeeded in politics and other arenas – including Coretta Scott King, Janet Reno and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who volunteered for Bernie Sanders in 2016 presidential campaign, worked as a bartender before thrashing the 10-term representative and then-fourth-ranking Democrat in the House.

Earlier in November, a Fox News panel mocked her finances after she revealed she would have to wait for her congressional salary to kick in before she could afford to rent a home in Washington DC.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez said the news outlet’s reaction was “very revealing to see how gleefully Fox News hosts crack jokes about working class people.”

“It is bizarre to see 1%-salaried anchors laugh at the US housing crisis,” she added.

But her choice of clothing sparked a backlash earlier in the month after a journalist suggested she was a woman who “struggles” with money.

A photo taken of Ms Ocasio-Cortez was tweeted by Eddie Scarry of the Washington Times, who said: “Hill staffer sent me this pic of Ocasio-Cortez they took just now. I’ll tell you something: that jacket and coat don’t look like a girl who struggles”.

Dictionary.com’s Twitter account hit out at Mr Scarry for calling the 29-year-old a “girl,” tweeting him with the definition: “Girl. Noun. A female child, from birth to full growth. E.g. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is not a girl.”