Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Quotes 'Watchmen' on Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the high-profile new Congresswoman from New York's 14th District, [...]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the high-profile new Congresswoman from New York's 14th District, surprised comic book fans this morning by responding to critics by quoting Watchmen at them on Twitter.

Responding to a news story about fellow Democrats who were hoping to rein her in, Ocasio-Cortez said, "To quote Alan Moore: 'None of you understand. I'm not locked up in here with YOU. You're locked up in here with ME.'"

The line, from Watchmen, was delivered by Rorschach and directed at inmates in the prison where he was incarcerated following his arrest in the story. The moment is one of the most frequently-cited lines in both the comic and its 2009 film adaptation from director Zack Snyder.

Last week, a conservative activist released an old video of Ocasio-Cortez dancing in college, apparently in an homage to the '80s classic The Breakfast Club, in an effort to humiliate the newly-sworn-in Congresswoman. The stunt backfired as the dance went viral and Ocasio-Cortez dancing her way into her Congressional office in a short video for Twitter.

Later, The Breakfast Club star Molly Ringwald welcomed Ocasio-Cortez to "the club."

Rorschach would not be a fan of Ocasio-Cortez's politics; he was created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons as a critique of Ayn Rand's principles, which informed the work of Steve Ditko. During his time at Charlton, Ditko had created The Question, the character of which Rorschach was a pastiche.

Ocasio-Cortez is hardly the first high-profile U.S. politician to be a comic book fan; during his time as President, Barack Obama was famously used to cameo in a number of titles, from Spider-Man to Savage Dragon, in part because he had spoken in the past about his love for Marvel Comics like Conan the Barbarian and Spider-Man that he read while growing up.

Not surprisingly, Ocasio-Cortez quoting Rorschach (and using Moore, so fans knew she wasn't getting it from the movie) has generated a ton of entertaining replies from supporters, detractors, fans, and comic book pros in the comments below her tweet.

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