Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave a terse response when asked about a former staffer’s congressional bid — refusing to engage onthe name-dropping former aide,Saikat Chakrabarti, who’s splashed the Dem darling’s face all over his campaign ads.

Ocasio-Cortez was ambushed Monday by areporter for DropSitewho offered her a chance to “clear up” rampant speculation about Chakrabarti, who was her chief of staff for roughly seven months in 2019 and is now running for Nancy Pelosi’s congressional seat.

“I’m just not commenting on the race,” the Bronx congresswoman said.Saikrabarti has relentlessly bragged of his ties to Ocasio-Cortez, slapping her photo on campaign fliers and taking credit for penning “The Green New Deal,” a progressive wish-list that was voted down in the House and Senate in 2019.

The 40-year-oldtech centimillionaire, a Harvard grad and former Sen. Bernie Sanders organizer, has poured nearly $5 million of his own money into his bid to replace retiring Pelosi in the House of Representatives.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned from working with Bernie and AOC, it’s that you just have to try,” Chakrabarti wrote on X in one of many mentions of Ocasio-Cortez on social media.

“Having worked with AOC, I can safely say she’s one of a kind. But I’d be honored to represent San Francisco in Congress and join AOC to build a society that truly works for all,” Chakrabarti wrote in another fawningX postlast year.

Ocasio-Cortez’s apparent snub of her former aide and campaign manager has fueled speculation about whether there was a falling out between the two.

Chakrabartibecame a lighting rodduring his seven-month tenure in Congress, accusing fellow Democrats of racism in incendiary tweets and slamming Pelosi — the powerful then-House Speaker — for “weak leadership,” according tomedia reports.

Don Ford, a progressive activist who volunteered on Ocasio-Cortez’s 2018 campaign for Congress, highlighted a 2019 Federal Election Commission investigation targeting Chakrabarti, who also founded two progressive fundraising groups called the Justice Democrats and Brand New Congress.

Chakrabarti was probed for funneling around $1 millioninto private companies he controlled. The feds closed the case without penalties.

Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos