AOC Shuts Down Sen. Menendez for Claiming People Want Him to Resign Because He’s Latino
Despite being indicted for allegedly receiving bribes including literal gold bars, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) thinks the calls for him to resign are just racist.
Politics

After Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife were indicted Friday on federal bribery charges—the second time Menendez has been charged!—some Democrats, including New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Sen. John Fetterman (PA), have begun calling on him to resign. But, not only is Bob choosing to persist, he’s choosing to not-so-subtly call his critics racist.
Menendez is up for re-election next year, the same time as the presidential election. His refusal to step down presents a massive optics problem at a time when his party is trying to drag the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, through the mud for his multiple indictments. Since the charges against Menendez became public, it seems like he simply hopes to wave away his own indictment and ignore the dissonance of Democrats asking people to vote for Joe Biden over Trump…but then support Menendez over any challengers.
The Senator and his wife are accused of accepting wads of cash and literal gold bars in exchange for favors like orchestrating hundreds of millions in federal aid to Egypt. Following news of the indictment, Menendez said he would “temporarily” step down as the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but he was not going to resign altogether. But he’s no hero, as Senate Democrats’ bylaws require anyone in a leadership position to step down from that role if charged with a felony. Menendez said in a statement Friday:
“Those who believe in justice believe in innocence until proven guilty. I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades. This is the same record of success these very same leaders have lauded all along. It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat. I am not going anywhere.”
As if that weren’t gross enough, he kept going, saying that people criticizing him “simply cannot accept that a first generation Latino-American from humble beginnings could rise to be a U.S. Senator and serve with honor and distinction.”