AOC ties expiration of child tax credit to jump in NYC crime

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tied the increase of thefts in New York City to the expiration of the child tax credit at the end of the year, according to an interview published on Monday.

Ocasio-Cortez, who just recently made waves when she predicted a Democrat takeover of Texas, sat down for a wide-ranging interview with the New Yorker, and the subject turned to crime in New York City. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez joins delivery workers to celebrate the passage of legislation by the New York City Council guaranteeing them basic labor rights such as wages, tips, and rest areas, Jan. 23, 2022, in Times Square, New York City.  (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

The representative said she has engaged "hospitals, doctors and social workers" and was told that the surge in violence is driven by the young-- mainly young men.

"And we allow the discourse to make it sound as though it’s, like, these shady figures in the bush jumping out from a corner. These are young men. These are boys. We’re also not discussing the mental health crisis that we are experiencing as a country as a result of the pandemic," she said.

The representative's office did not immediately respond to an after-hours email from Fox News.

She pointed out that the child tax credit, which was seen as a lifeline to many families, expired on Dec. 31 "and now people are stealing baby formula."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. representative for New York's 14th Congressional District, speaks during an event at the U.S. Climate Action Center during COP26 on Nov. 9, 2021, in Glasgow.  (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

The monthly tax credits were part of President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Biden had proposed extending them for another full year as part of a separate measure focused on economic and social programs, but Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin objected to extending the credit out of concern that the money would discourage people from working and that any additional federal spending would fuel inflation that has already climbed to a nearly 40-year high.

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"We don’t want to have that discussion. We want to say these people are criminals or we want to talk about "people who are violent," instead of ‘environments of violence,’ and what we’re doing to either contribute to that or dismantle that."

On the day the interview was published, an Asian-American woman in New York City's Chinatown was stabbed to death inside her apartment after police said she was followed inside by a homeless man, the New York Post reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report