New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has long been notorious for her vocal criticism of law enforcement rhetoric.

However, the far-left lawmaker recently caught pushback for comments she made about a video of the NYPD's dance troupe. 

Congresswoman blames dance troupe for funding cuts to school music

According to the New York Post, Ocasio-Cortez's remarks came after the troupe was featured on a PIX11 news segment late last week.

A clip of the segment was posted to X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter. Ocasio-Cortez responded by asking, "How many school music programs got defunded for this?"

How many school music programs got defunded for this https://t.co/h4R4DHRy1E

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 19, 2024

One platform user pointed out that the congresswoman is selective in her outrage when it comes to the use of public dollars, writing, "Meanwhile because of [Ocasio-Cortez's] policies New York City is spending billions on illegal immigrants."

Meanwhile, another site user sarcastically asked, "Isn't this the type of police that you like, the ones who don’t actually enforce laws?"

Troupe president says dancers receive no tax dollars

Autumn-Raine Martinez is the dance troupe's president, and she explained in a follow-up interview with PIX11 that the outfit does not receive any funding from taxpayers.

"We're not looking to be professional dancers," the Post quoted her as saying. "Some of us have never danced before, some of us have danced our whole lives."

"Even with the comments we’ve been getting, we’ve been just leaning on each other, just supporting each other," the officer continued.

"It's already tough being on this [police] job, but then to have more things like that [criticism] for doing something we love doing is kind of hard," she added.

Mayor voices support for group

The Post noted that the dance troupe received public backing on Tuesday from Mayor Eric Adams, who is himself a former police officer.

Adams told reporters at City Halls that attacks on the dancer are "mean-spirited," stressing, "We have an NYPD boxing team, NYPD hockey team, FDNY team. We have fraternal organizations. … It really humanizes our offices."

"It is a way to alleviate the stress and difficulties and challenges of doing the job," Adams explained, adding that he has since invited the dancer to City Hall.

"They will be around later," the mayor told reporters before joking that "[i]f any of you want to learn some moves, you could be here to participate."