{"id":553555,"date":"2021-06-05T12:06:06","date_gmt":"2021-06-05T16:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=553555"},"modified":"2021-06-05T12:06:08","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T16:06:08","slug":"matt-walsh-raises-100k-for-ocasio-cortezs-grandmother-gofundme-shuts-down-account","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/matt-walsh-raises-100k-for-ocasio-cortezs-grandmother-gofundme-shuts-down-account\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Walsh Raises $100K For Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s Grandmother; GoFundMe Shuts Down Account"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmatt-walsh-raises-100k-for-ocasio-cortezs-grandmother-gofundme-shuts-down-account%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=553555&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Ocasio-Cortez-1.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>GoFundMe has disabled donations to a fundraiser organized by The Daily Wire\u2019s Matt Walsh meant to help Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s (D-NY) grandmother repair her home in Puerto Rico, which was damaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>In an email sent to Walsh Friday night, GoFundMe said they were \u201cin touch with the beneficiary\u2019s family and they made clear they will not be accepting the funds raised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen a beneficiary doesn\u2019t want to accept the funds that have been raised on their behalf, it is standard practice to turn off donations, then refund all donors,\u201d GoFundMe added.<\/p>\n<p>The message from GoFundMe appears to suggest that it may not have been\u00a0Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s grandmother who directly refused the funds, but someone else in the family.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Wire has reached out to the platform, asking if it is standard practice to allow one member of a family to deny funds to another family member in need. The platform did not respond by the time of publication of this article.<\/p>\n<p>More than 5,800 people pledged to help Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s grandmother, raising just over $100,000 in 10 hours before the fundraiser was shut down.<\/p>\n<p>All this in response to the congresswoman suggesting that rather than taking direct action to help her grandmother, the most important role she played in the situation was to decry \u201csystematic injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy abuela is okay. But instead of only caring for mine &#038; letting others suffer, I\u2019m calling attention to the systemic injustices you seem totally fine w\/ in having a US colony,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n<p>On Twitter, Walsh posted the email he received from GoFundMe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUPDATE: \u201csomeone\u201d in AOC\u2019s abuela\u2019s family told GoFundMe that she won\u2019t take the money, even though AOC previously claimed that her grandma was in dire straits (and it was Trump\u2019s fault). <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AOC\">@AOC<\/a> still hasn\u2019t acknowledged this effort or thanked us,\u201d Walsh wrote.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"10.615384615385\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">UPDATE: \u201csomeone\u201d in AOC\u2019s abuela\u2019s family told GoFundMe that she won\u2019t take the money, even though AOC previously claimed that her grandma was in dire straits (and it was Trump\u2019s fault). <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AOC<\/a> still hasn\u2019t acknowledged this effort or thanked us. Here\u2019s the email from GoFundMe: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MsM4ECLDX0\">pic.twitter.com\/MsM4ECLDX0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MattWalshBlog\/status\/1401161206430371843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 5, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cTragically this charitable effort has been sabotaged by forces outside of our control. Still I\u2019m grateful for the outpouring of support for abuela, even if AOC isn\u2019t. But questions remain: Why didn\u2019t AOC help her own abuela? Why was our help turned down? We are left to speculate,\u201d Walsh added. \u201cIn the end, our campaign raised 100 thousand dollars and could have solved a problem in ten hours that AOC couldn\u2019t solve in four years. We can all be proud of that. As for abuela, all we can do now is pray.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"10.371428571429\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">In the end, our campaign raised 100 thousand dollars and could have solved a problem in ten hours that AOC couldn\u2019t solve in four years. We can all be proud of that. As for abuela, all we can do now is pray. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aKQLXXVnxE\">pic.twitter.com\/aKQLXXVnxE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MattWalshBlog\/status\/1401166052923478020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 5, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Walsh also posted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/save-aocs-abuelas-ancestral-home\">an update<\/a> to the GoFundMe page, which explained that GoFundMe would be issuing a refund to everyone who donated within 3 to 7 days. As Walsh made clear from the beginning, all of the money would be returned to those who donated if Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s grandmother declined to receive the funds. Walsh himself will receive none of the funds.<\/p>\n<p>Walsh decided to raise the funds after Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter about the squalid conditions in which her grandmother was living, posting photos of her grandmother\u2019s hurricane-damaged home. Ocasio-Cortez took the opportunity to blame former President Donald Trump for her grandmother\u2019s fate, saying the former president blocked aide to Puerto Rico following the devastating Hurricane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust over a week ago, my abuela fell ill,\u201d Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Wednesday. \u201cI went to Puerto Rico to see her \u2014 \u00a0my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID. This is her home. Hurricane Mar\u00eda relief hasn\u2019t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR. People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, &#038; developers are taking them.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"14.282485875706\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Just over a week ago, my abuela fell ill. I went to Puerto Rico to see her- my 1st time in a year+ bc of COVID.<\/p>\n<p>This is her home. Hurricane Mar\u00eda relief hasn\u2019t arrived. Trump blocked relief $ for PR.<\/p>\n<p>People are being forced to flee ancestral homes, &#038; developers are taking them. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wnRxLalA2D\">pic.twitter.com\/wnRxLalA2D<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AOC\/status\/1400150275676160001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Ocasio-Cortez followed up her tweet by acknowledging that local politics were also to blame for her grandmother\u2019s living conditions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to be clear \u2013 while Trump admin had a major role, it wasn\u2019t just them. La Junta, local policies, etc were all on the same page: policies that pushed out local families. To turn this around, we need audits &#038; get recovery relief to people ASAP, without the onerous strings,\u201d she tweeted.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"17.341463414634\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I want to be clear \u2013 while Trump admin had a major role, it wasn\u2019t just them.<\/p>\n<p>La Junta, local policies, etc were all on the same page: policies that pushed out local families.<\/p>\n<p>To turn this around, we need audits &#038; get recovery relief to people ASAP, without the onerous strings.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AOC\/status\/1400160163634556933?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As The Daily Wire\u2019s Amanda Prestigiacomo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/after-ocasio-cortez-reveals-squalid-conditions-of-her-abuelas-home-matt-walsh-starts-viral-gofundme-to-help\">reported<\/a>, Walsh questioned why Ocasio-Cortez, who earns more than $170,000 annually and drives a Tesla, has not offered aid to her own grandmother. The congresswoman and Walsh exchanged a few tweets, after which Walsh decided to start the fundraiser to help her struggling grandmother.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs you\u2019ve heard, [AOC]\u2019s abuela is living in a dilapidated home that was ravaged by Hurricane Maria,\u201d Walsh wrote on Twitter Friday. \u201cAOC is unable to help her own grandma for whatever reason, so I have set up this Go Fund Me campaign to save her home. Please give if you can\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/HelpAbuela?src=hashtag_click\">#HelpAbuela<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Walsh said he would donate $499 \u2013 the monthly lease payment for a Tesla \u2013 to start the fundraiser, and challenged Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro and fellow podcast host Michael Knowles, as well as Daily Wire co-founder and co-CEO Jeremy Boreing, to donate the same amount, which they accepted. Daily Wire host Candace Owens also contributed the same amount.<\/p>\n<p>In her tweets chastising Walsh for suggesting she could help her own grandmother, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that the podcast host didn\u2019t \u201ceven have a concept for the role that 1<sup>st<\/sup>-gen, first-born daughters play in their families.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"13.512747875354\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">You don\u2019t even have a concept for the role that 1st-gen, first-born daughters play in their families.<\/p>\n<p>My abuela is okay. But instead of only caring for mine &#038; letting others suffer, I\u2019m calling attention to the systemic injustices you seem totally fine w\/ in having a US colony. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QN0ZVoyDt2\">https:\/\/t.co\/QN0ZVoyDt2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AOC\/status\/1400163260918386696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>While the congresswoman appears to refer to herself as a \u201cfirst generation\u201d American, Ocasio-Cortez was born in New York, as was her father, an American citizen of Puerto Rican dissent who was born in the Bronx. The congresswoman\u2019s mother was born in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and have been so\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/this-day-in-history\/puerto-ricans-become-u-s-citizens-are-recruited-for-war-effort\">since 1917<\/a>\u00a0when they were granted statutory citizenship\u00a0through the Jones-Shafroth Act signed by Woodrow Wilson. The\u00a0United States Census Bureau\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/topics\/population\/foreign-born\/about\/faq.html\">defines<\/a>\u00a0\u201cfirst-generation\u201d immigrants as members of the family\u00a0who are \u201cforeign born\u201d and are the first in the family to gain citizenship\u00a0or permanent residency in the U.S.;\u00a0\u201csecond generation\u201d refers to \u201cthose with at least one foreign-born parent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>GoFundMe did not respond to a Daily Wire inquiry prior to press time. Any response from the platform will be added if and when it is received.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">member<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GoFundMe has disabled donations to a fundraiser organized by The Daily Wire\u2019s Matt Walsh meant to help Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s (D-NY) grandmother repair her home in Puerto Rico, which was &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2279305,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Ocasio-Cortez-1.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Matt Walsh Raises $100K For Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s Grandmother; GoFundMe Shuts Down Account","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-553555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Ocasio-Cortez-1.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Matt Walsh Raises $100K For Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s Grandmother; GoFundMe Shuts Down Account","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2279305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}