Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Image by Getty Images

At a Hanukkah party Sunday evening, Ocasio-Cortez shared in a speech that Puerto Ricans can have descendants from several ethnicities, including Jewish refugees, Spanish colonizers and indigenous peoples. But as when outgoing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan discovered Jewish ancestry, politics determined whether or not AOC got a warm Jewish welcome.

No. You don’t get to co-opt sephardi tradition for your political game. There is nothing jewish about you, so you are not a jew. At the very most, your family is Anusim, and I’d like to see a dna test on that.

Also, you’re not even working class. https://t.co/8FfYld58pU

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— JudeaPride.Com (@JudeaPride) December 10, 2018

Definitely not Jewish…

— Drake Pipkin™ (@drakepipkin) December 10, 2018

Is @Ocasio2018 doing a Senator Warren?

— Hank Miiller (@miiller) December 10, 2018

The situation could read to some like the day in August when House Speaker Paul Ryan enthusiastically revealed he is 3% Ashkenazi Jewish, with eastern European roots.

“I’m sorry but no, we don’t want him,” tweeted Ayelet Waldman, an Israeli-American novelist and essayist.

Another tweeted: “As if the Jewish people people haven’t suffered enough.”

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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