Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's rebuttal to Chase Bank's thrifty '#MondayMotivation' tweet goes viral
National Taxpayers Union senior fellow Mattie Duppler gives her take on Chase’s “Monday Motivation” tweet.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, joining a long list of critics, slammed Chase Bank for its "#MondayMotivation" tip this week.
Chase Bank made a botched attempt to motivate customers to budget better by posting a meme-like message on Monday. The financial institution urged customers to skip eating out, taking cabs and splurging on pricey cups of coffee.
"You: Why is my balance so low / Bank account: make coffee at home / Bank account: eat the food that's already in the fridge / Bank account: you don't need a cab, it's only three blocks / You: I guess we'll never know / Bank account: seriously?" the since-deleted tweet read, adding the hashtag #MondayMotivation at the end.
Internet users and politicians alike were quick to shade the company for being tone-deaf and out-of-touch.
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat who serves New York's 14th congressional district, piled onto the criticism Tuesday night.
"You: Why is my balance so low? Economists: Bc working Americans haven’t gotten a raise in 30 years despite unprecedented growth; & living costs have exploded. Chase: Maybe if you skipped that Dunkin on April 22nd you‘d be able to afford your RX meds. That’s how that works right," Ocasio-Cortez sarcastically replied, mocking what she considered Chase's failed attempt to appeal to a younger audience.
As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly 20,000 people shared the 29-year-old's rebuttal. Many agreed with Ocasio-Cortez's point and added their own spin-off memes in response. However, some also defended the bank, claiming "these are really common reasons for millennials going broke."
By Monday afternoon, Chase pulled down the tweet and responded to the overwhelming backlash: "Our #MondayMotivation is to get better at #MondayMotivation tweets. Thanks for the feedback Twitter world."
This isn't the first time Ocasio-Cortez, who serves on the House Financial Services Committee — which oversees Wall Street — has voiced an issue with a big bank.
"This is why I am running for Congress. Because we cannot stand idly as big banks gut every last protection working families have left," the freshman Democrat tweeted in June 2017.
"During + after the 2008 financial crisis, everyday people started to viscerally see the corrosive role of lobbyists writing in legal loopholes that allowed big banks to gamble with people’s lives and the economy as a whole. Occupy Wall Street emerged, and activism bloomed," wrote Ocasio-Cortez on Jan. 16 — a day after she announced she would be joining the committee.
Fox Business learned earlier this month that Ocasio-Cortez hasn't met with bank executives since she was sworn into office in January. A spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez didn’t respond to Fox Business' requests for comment on this matter at the time.