US senator and Drag Race super fan Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez surprised a room full of New Yorkers on the July 4th weekend, dropping by the McKittrick Hotel to watch Bartschland Follies - a drag and burlesque show produced by local legend Susanne Bartsch.
Spotting her in the crowd, drag performer Joey Arias pulled Ocasio-Cortez on stage, where she told the crowd: “You are beautiful. You are accepted.”
She then told the audience to give Arias a “big round of applause”.
Arias and iconic drag king Murray Hill each shared snaps of AOC on social media.
“Alexandria O.Cortez and myself at BARTSCHLAND FOLLIES!" Arias wrote.
"I was gagging ! She’s Amaxing ! The place went wild ! Chanting her name!”
“None of us in the cast were feeling too patriotic this July 4th weekend, but her presence alone gave us all a much needed dose of hope,” Hill explained to NBC News.
“She reignited the fire that’s burning in all of us. She stayed and watched the entire show starring New York’s finest misfits, nightlife creatures, rabble-rousers, queer icons.”
