It's not every day that your conference call is interrupted by an eager, slobbering bulldog. But then again, there's been nothing ordinary about the past year for New York's 14th congressional district representative. A video of a bulldog bowling over Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been circulating online this week, and it's way too adorable to miss.

• Riley Roberts

The clip shows a constituent's bulldog jumping on Ocasio-Cortez while she's outside and talking on the phone for a conference call. The situation escalates until she's lying horizontal with the dog on top of her, licking her face. Simone Norman — a comedian who worked on Ocasio-Cortez's campaign for Congress last year — shared the video on Twitter on Thursday and said she filmed it over the summer.

'Sorry for laughing instead of helping, alex [sic],' Norman wrote. The comedian also joked about a recent attack on Ocasio-Cortez from right-wing media: Pundits bashed the representative after finding out that her boyfriend has a government email address, assuming that meant she'd hired him to her staff.

'Leftist darling @AOC spotted necking with heavyset mystery man in broad daylight,' Norman quipped on Thursday of the bulldog video, 'someone better check to see if this bulldog has its own congressional email account.'

The video gained traction later in the afternoon on Thursday when researcher Bobby Lewis tweeted it, adding, 'the most important video of the week is @AOC being attacked by a constituent's dog.' Ocasio-Cortez later shared the clip herself with the caption: 'Snuggle ambush in the Bronx while I was on a conference call.'

According to Norman, Charlie is the dog of a constituent who lives in Parkchester, a neighborhood in the Bronx. Ocasio-Cortez represents the eastern side of the Bronx as well as a region in the north and middle of Queens.

Norman's video is just the latest internet sensation moment for Ocasio-Cortez. Her tweets regularly go viral, but it's the videos of her that are often the most iconic. Her May 2018 campaign advertisement received 300,000 views in its first day, according to CBS News — and that was when she was a barely-known politician. At the beginning of this year, a video of her dancing in a Breakfast Club satire from her college days was shared by a critic in an attempt to discredit her. One social media user turned that video into a meme, dubbing it over with a series of pop hits. A recent clip of Ocasio-Cortez breaking down the United States' campaign finance problems became the most-watched political video on Twitter.

With over 6 million followers on Twitter and Instagram combined, Ocasio-Cortez is by far the most popular new Democrat in the House, according to a Politico analysis. By comparison, runner-up Ilhan Omar (R-Minn.) has 1.34 million social media followers. A recent report from The Guardian showed that Ocasio-Cortez's engagement level on Twitter is higher than that of President Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or Bernie Sanders.

Jan 13, 2020 US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has revealed the name of her new pooch — “Deco.” The renegade Bronx Democrat — who came under fire for allegedly buying a purebred male French bulldog puppy instead. Ocasio-Cortez said on Instagram that she's working to crate train her puppy, and posted a picture of her dog sleeping on her lap in response to a Twitter user who asked if the dog will come to Washington, D.C. She quipped that 'the goal is to train him to be a community pup.

• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants a dog “so bad” for emotional support. (Photo: Gary Miller/FilmMagic) Being the youngest woman in Congress is a tough job, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants a.
• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a furry new constituent: She just got a French bulldog puppy. Ocasio-Cortez, a 30-year-old who has quickly become one of the most famous progressive.

Whether she's dominating social media or calmly letting a bulldog attack her, Ocasio-Cortez makes it clear that she's truly in a league of her own.

PETA slams Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for getting purebred puppy instead of rescue dog

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is in the doghouse with PETA after posting pictures of her purebred French bulldog puppy.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was slammed by the animal rights organization PETA on Thursday for not being a good role model.

The New York Democrat could have influenced her millions of social media followers by adopting a rescue mutt from a shelter, PETA argued, but instead the congresswoman took home a purebred French bulldog.

“AOC had a chance to set a compassionate, responsible example in the face of the homeless-animal crisis, but instead, she apparently inadvertently contributed to the problem,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a letter. “PETA is urging her supporters not to follow her lead in this case and to stick up for the underdog by choosing to give a lovable mutt a new lease on life.”

The freshman “Squad” member had introduced her yet-to-be named Frenchie in an Instagram story earlier in the week. She never confirmed the breed or if she purchased her pet from a breeder.

“He doesn’t have a name yet!” Ocasio-Cortez said in one Instagram story post, asking for suggestions. “We are thinking something Star Trek related or Bronx/Queens/NYC/social good related.”

But compared to followers who fawned over the animal’s cuteness and tweeted Ocasio-Cortez images of their own dog, Newkirk was less than amused.

“French bulldogs are inbred in order to produce “breed-specific traits,” which cause health problems that many people who will be influenced by your purchase won’t be able to afford to address,” her letter continued.

“With the millions of homeless dogs out there, you apparently chose to buy a purebred puppy instead of adopting one from an animal shelter. Right this minute, on Petfinder alone, there are more than 110,000 dogs – including French bulldogs – who need homes. Animal shelters are bursting at the seams with hundreds of thousands more, many of whom will be “put to sleep” for lack of a home.

The letter urges the freshman congresswoman to visit any NYC Animal Care & Control center and adopt a shelter dog to give her new French Bull Dog a companion while she’s away traveling the country or busy working on Capitol Hill. PETA said it was also sending Ocasio-Cortez a copy of the book “Dogs Hate Crates” to explain “why crate training is not humane or effective.”

“We’re asking that you please be a part of the solution to ending the cat- and dog-overpopulation crisis and consider setting the right example for your millions of followers by adopting a mutt and encouraging them to do the same,” Newkirk concludes.

Ocasio-Cortez has documented on her Instagram story how she was crate-training her dog.

“He’s good about his crate when we are right next to it, but he’s such a velcro pup that at night he whimpers if he’s not right next to us. We’re working on it!” she wrote.

“We are working really hard to socialize the pup to new environments, different people, travel, etc.,” she said, adding, “He’s doing great so far!”

She also responded to one Twitter user who asked if she would be bringing the puppy to work on Capitol Hill with her.

Riley Roberts

“The goal is to train him to be a community pup,” Ocasio-Cortez said, sharing a photo of the dog asleep in her lap. “Ideally we want to work to the point where he can enjoy town halls, be an Amtrak pup, come to the office, etc. But first, naps.”