AOC ‘more active on Twitter’ than in Congress, says Joe Manchin

The pair previously clashed over AOC’s calls to defund the police

AOC not ‘active in bills or committee’, says Manchin (Getty Images)

Centrist Democrat Joe Manchin has accused his left-wing colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of being "more active on Twitter" than in Congress.

Mr Manchin, a West Virginia senator, claimed Ms Ocasio-Cortez, representative for New York's 14th congressional district, is not that "active in bills or in committee".

“I guess she put the dagger stare on me,” Mr Manchin, 73, told The New York Times in an interview published on Monday.

“I don’t know the young lady — I really don’t. I never met her. I’m understanding she’s not that active with her bills or in committee. She’s more active on Twitter than anything else,” he added.

Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for Ms Ocasio-Cortez, told the Times the New York lawmaker had submitted more amendments than 90 per cent of her freshman colleagues.

Mr Manchin, 73, had been asked about a photo Ms Ocasio-Cortez shared to Twitter in November.

In the image she can been seen giving Mr Manchin "the evils" during president Donald Trump's State of the Union address.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, 31, posted the photo in a tweet quoting Mr Manchin's comments about defunding the police, a call she and a small number of other Democrats made during a summer of social unrest following the police killing of black Americans.

"Defund the police? Defund, my butt. I'm a proud West Virginia Democrat," Mr Manchin had told the Washington Examiner in an interview at the time.

His Monday comments in the Times are the latest escalation in an emerging war of words between the two wings of the Democrat Party, who blame each other for their poor results in this year's congressional contests and are embroiled in a battle over the future of the party.

Despite Joe Biden winning the presidency after four years of Donald Trump, Democrats lost seats in the House and, as a result, have a reduced majority in the lower chamber.

If Republicans win Georgia's Senate run-off elections in January then they will control the upper chamber, making it difficult for Mr Biden to get his legislative agenda through Congress.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez is among a group of left-wing Democrats who have criticised top figures within the party for not pursuing a more radical agenda on climate change, health care and immigration.

Centrist Democrats such as Mr Manchin say the left's "socialist messaging" puts of voters in rural America outside of large urban areas.