Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted – then quickly deleted – a celebration of the news that U.S. equity markets crashed on Monday, with oil prices turning negative for the first time in history.
The resulting social media flare-up highlighted the unprecedented stakes of the current economic crisis heading into the 2020 presidential election, and underscored Republican complaints that their rivals were looking for ways to use the moment for political gain.
"You absolutely love to see it," Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described "democratic socialist," wrote on Twitter. She was responding to a post which stated: "Oil prices now at 'negative values,' meaning oil producers have to pay people to take it off their hands and store it because when demand plunges (like now), that is less expensive for them than building more storage and/or shutting wells down."
"This along with record low interest rates means it's the right time for a worker-led, mass investment in green infrastructure to save our planet. *cough*," Ocasio-Cortez continued.
