Fans of the Paramount Network hit series "Yellowstone" likely know that raising cattle is big business in Montana. The same holds true for neighboring Wyoming, which explains why Harriet Hageman, who has served as the U.S. representative for Wyoming's at-large congressional district since January of last year, offered an op-ed for Fox News last year that claimed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is "still coming for your hamburgers."

Hageman, who defeated incumbent Rep. Liz Cheney in the 2022 Republican primary last year, cited comments that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC, made in an interview with Vice in 2019 while discussing the Green New Deal.

The congresswoman from the Empire State suggested that there was a need to look into factory farming.

"It's not to say we're going to force everybody to go vegan or anything crazy like that. But it's to say, listen, we've got to address factory farming. Maybe we shouldn't be eating a hamburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner," Ocasio-Cortez explained back in 2019.

Fast forward to last year. Hageman cited new regulations that could affect Irish farmers as part of an agreement with the European Commission.

"In order to comply with limits on nitrates, Irish farmers must choose one of three options: buy more land for their cows, pay someone to haul away the waste, or liquidate some of their herd. For many, the first two possibilities may be cost-prohibitive, leading them to the heartbreaking conclusion that slaughtering cattle is their only choice," Hageman suggested.

Is This Really About AOC at All – or Hamburgers?

Hageman went on to suggest that it could happen here, even though AOC hasn't said anything about hamburgers in the media.

Rather the Wyoming congresswoman offered, "Here at home, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is trying to head down the same path, beginning with the same policy as Ireland's environmentalists – mandatory EID eartags on all cattle. The argument that this is needed for better tracing of diseases among herds makes no sense, because our current programs and standards already have the U.S. leading the world in food quality."

The Cowboy State's lawmaker then shifted gears and explained that these tags represent a "massive cost to farmers and ranchers." At the same time, she argued, "It threatens further centralization of the food supply among a few large producers, and it’s a serious privacy concern."

She then used the op-ed to draw attention to an amendment she introduced to the agriculture appropriations bill to completely defund the mandatory EID eartags program. Wyoming's Republican Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis have introduced a similar amendment in their chamber.

AOC has nothing to do with the EID eartags, and more importantly, the USDA last attempted to implement a mandatory system more than a decade ago. 

Ranchers have been fighting it ever since.

Likewise, the Green New Deal never passed.

Yet, Hageman was attempting to connect the dots – citing a comment made by Ocasio-Cortez more than four years ago, with new regulations in Ireland and a program that has been in the works for some dozen years. 

None of this seems the least bit connected, however, to hamburgers.

Author Experience and Expertise

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. This piece is an opinion representing the author's own views. 

Image Credit: Shutterstock.