Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Rep. Omar. aren’t just friends and political allies, they’re following a common political playbook. The troll playbook.

Step 1. Say something that gets you lots of negative attention.

Step 2. Claim to be upset at all the negative attention. 

Step 3. Double down on whatever it was you did that got a response. 

If people seem to be getting bored of your latest scandal, start over again from Step 1.

Rep. Omar has a more limited repertoire than Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Beyond anti-Semitism in support of Islamic terrorists, there’s her attack on Obama in support of Islamic terrorists. But Omar’s base has a narrower range of interests than Cortez’s hipsters.

Outrage won’t stop Rep. Omar’s anti-Semitism. She thrives on it.

The classic trolling technique is pick a target, offend the target, feed off the response to increase your social media presence. Omar’s routine is no different than alt-right trolling of Jews on Twitter with gas chamber cartoons. It’s a deliberate effort to get a response and attention by targeting people in ways that will outrage them, so that their reaction will seem like an overreaction.

In Step 2, the troll plays innocent, pretends not to mean it or not to understand what was so offensive.

Rep. Omar did that. Now she’s on Step 3.

Rep. Omar and Rep. Tlaib have both borrowed the Ocasio Cortez playbook for their own purposes. It’s a growth industry. And it isn’t going anywhere.