In an interview with The New Republic, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s top aide revealed he’s saying sayonara to Congress.
Gerardo Bonilla Chavez (aka “G”) cited burnout as a main factor behind his decision and disclosed to the progressive publication his plans to return to Mexico for the moment.
G worked diligently with Ocasio-Cortez over the last four years. His towering figure, and less imposing man bun, would often bob up and down alongside the Bronx congresswoman on Capitol Hill.
Chavez spoke about his humble beginnings with The New Republic’s Pablo Manríquez, linking negative childhood experiences to his work for the Squad’s most famous member.
As American Wire reports:
With his official last day marked, the now former chief of staff spoke with The New Republic on Wednesday where he spoke of the “otherness” growing up in Minnesota after being born in Bakersfield, California to farmworkers from Mexico.
“I felt my otherness. I shied away from my Mexican culture, avoiding things like speaking Spanish, while also doing things to try to fit in, like wearing Abercrombie and Fitch,” Bonilla Chavez said in the interview after recounting how his older sister had told him about the move to Minnesota. “People are going to hate you here because of who you are.”
The “otherness” was further described as “gringo oppression” and according to the outlet, the Capitol Hill staffer said to be known around the office as “G,” now “plans to travel to Mexico City for the first time, to spend a month there, to recharge, and perhaps return to the Beltway and get back into the progressive work that motivates him.”
…
Weighing in on the aide New York Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D) called “Fabuloso,” Ocasio-Cortez told The New Republic, “The perspective that G brings is not just rooted in reading about working-class experiences but being rooted in and coming from that life.”
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