AOC says Rick Scott would be called ‘crazy’ if he was a woman as she attacks sexist double-standards

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has argued Republican Senator Rick Scott would be branded “crazy” and “unlikeable” if he was a woman but sexist double-standards means his failings are accepted and normalised.

Mr Scott, the former Florida governor, started the Twitter spat by criticising an exhaustive plan to deal with the nation’s gun violence crisis released by presidential Democrat candidate Senator Cory Booker on Monday.

The 14-part plan proposes a ban on assault weapons, targets the National Rifle Association’s tax-exempt status and would set a federal standard for issuing gun licenses - which includes the completion of a gun safety course.

“The latest terrible idea to come out of the Democrats’ 2020 primary is a federal gun registry,” Mr Scott tweeted.

Mr Scott both mocked the New Jersey senator’s plan which has been called “the most sweeping plan ever put forth by a presidential candidate” by Mr Booker’s campaign and derided Ms Ocasio-Cortez’ Green New Deal resolution.

“What’s next? Will we have to register sharp knives? Maybe @AOC will make us register every time we buy meat as part of her #GreenNewDeal,” Mr Scott said.

The Green New Deal is an ambitious environmental plan - unveiled by Ms Ocasio-Cortez - to tackle climate change that would bring in sweeping reforms with the promise of radically reducing American carbon emissions while adding millions of jobs and investing heavily in US infrastructure.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York’s 14th congressional district and is the youngest ever US congresswoman, hit back at his comments by arguing that they lacked “critical thinking".

“If you were a female candidate, maybe you’d be called ‘unlikeable,’ ‘crazy,’ or ‘uninformed’. But since you’re not, this inadequacy is accepted as normal,” she tweeted.

Mr Scott responded by claiming that he had been joking in his previous tweet and went on to fiercely criticise Ms Ocacio-Cortez, who thrashed Democrat stalwart Joe Crowley – the 10-term representative and then-fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, last year.

“That a sitting Congresswoman doesn’t understand sarcasm would be embarrassing to the institution if you hadn’t embarrassed yours to the point of irrelevance already. America rejects socialism and will continue to," he wrote.

Mr Scott entered politics from the business world - having accumulated a personal fortune as a healthcare executive.