A Tale of Two Heckles: Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Jabs Kevin McCarthy - And Resets the National Debate

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

The other day, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, gave a floor speech of more than eight hours. His goal was to delay the vote on the Democrats’ Build Back Better bill. The bill eventually passed. McCarthy’s speech was, by all accounts, terrible. The event’s highlight, however, came from two heckles by Democratic firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. One of her heckles was excellent, while the other was a mess. A good heckle makes people think. Let’s look at what happened.

The First Heckle

Ocasio-Cortez’ first heckle was short, pithy, and exactly on point. It was a masterful display of how heckling can reset public issue discussion.

Here’s the context. During his seemingly endless speech, McCarthy complained that the Democratic agenda was too big. Alluding to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal, McCarthy said this:

“Just a few weeks ago, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger said, ‘Nobody elected Joe Biden to be FDR.’”

From the audience, Ocasio-Cortez shouted,

“I did!”

Someone else, presumably another Democratic member of Congress, then shouted, “Me, too!”

Why was “I did!” a good heckle? First, it was short. Two words. Long heckles just irritate people. Second, she interrupted the speaker for only a brief moment. McCarthy needed a few seconds to regather his thoughts, but continued his speech. Since he had nothing to say, he didn’t comment about the heckle.

Furthermore, Ocasio-Cortez’ heckle changed the agenda. With two simple words, she encouraged us to think big. The United States of America is, after all, the country that sent astronauts to the moon and built an interstate highway system. The United States was the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II. The United States dollar is the world’s reserve currency. Nevertheless, today’s conservatives don’t seem to think that the United States can afford to do anything. Let the roads crumble and the bridges fall down? Cut school funding? Let people die without medical care? No problem!

The heckle worked because Ocasio-Cortez reset the debate. FDR became president at the height of a massive economic depression that originated under the leadership of his conservative Republican predecessor. His New Deal brought us Social Security and rural electrification, while helping the nation recover from the Great Depression.

Yet, McCarthy made it clear that he did not want another FDR. FDR thought big, and McCarthy literally boasted about thinking small. Thus, he invited Ocasio-Cortez’ heckle. Speaking for many Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez’ two-word heckle expressed her view that an ambitious, positive program was just what the nation needed.


The Second Heckle(s)

Ocasio-Cortez then retired to the luxurious congressional cloakroom, where she live-streamed a sarcastic running commentary about McCarthy’s speech. She remarked that he had “one of the lowest vocabularies ever.” She said that, even if McCarthy wanted to be evil, he shouldn’t also be stupid. Maybe, she said, he should instead be an “evil genius.” She called him an “imbecile.” And so forth.

Now, first of all, such rude language would not be allowed during floor debate. She got away with it because she was streaming from a remote place, while watching McCarthy speak on a TV monitor. Her sarcastic comments probably appealed to her liberal congressional district. I can’t say that she was wrong about McCarthy. Nevertheless, the crudity of her live-streamed heckles contrasted with her short, pithy shout about Biden and FDR.

Indeed, although Ocasio-Cortez is Past Master of Social Media, her live-streamed observations detracted from the main point. That’s because her instant heckle – “I did!” – made her point perfectly. She didn’t need to say anything else. Task complete! Furthermore, “I did!” focused national attention on the real issue, which was the Democrats’ ambitious social and industrial program. To the extent that people dwelled on her live-streamed insults, they could be distracted from thinking about the issue. For McCarthy’s poor speaking skills were not the national issue. The issue was FDR and Biden – the New Deal and the Build Back Better legislation that is now going to the Senate. 

Sometimes, short is better.


What about Heckling?

Let’s review about good heckling:

1. A good heckle is short and pithy. (Witty is also good.)

2. A good heckle is tasteful.

3. A good heckle does not disrupt the proceedings.

4. Most important, a good heckle makes people think.

When Ocasio-Cortez shouted, “I did,” she got people thinking. That was good. In contrast, when she complained about McCarthy’s lack of English language skills, she may have had a point, but that point was neither pithy nor tasteful. It didn’t make anyone think. It was just a random insult.

It is interesting, though, that we can now heckle a speech in real time over the Internet. I don’t think that’s entirely fair, since the speaker can’t respond in real time, but it is a noteworthy technological development.

Conclusion

When Ocasio-Cortez said, “I did!” she reset the day’s agenda. In two words, she reminded Congress and the public that it’s okay to think big.

“Here, here!” for good heckling. But “shame, shame” for tasteless or pointless heckling.
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Earlier Posts about heckling:

The Lost Art of Heckling

Hear! Hear! Three Cheers for (Tasteful and Witty) Heckling

"OK, Boomer:" Chlöe Swarbrick Teaches Us How to Put a Heckler Down Flat

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P.S.  Whenever I write about heckling, I think about my University of Illinois professor Kurt Ritter, who excelled at the art. 

Image: US House of Representatives