At this point, it seems like almost everyone has attempted to take on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter. Though the masses have tried, failed, and tried again, Friday morning’s victim was Sen. Ted Cruz.

AOC, a prominent member of the progressive freshman “Squad” of congresswomen, took to Twitter on Wednesday to point out the irony of President Trump’s highly-criticized decision to put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.

“Mike Pence literally does not believe in science,” she tweeted earlier this week in response to his appointment. “It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic. This decision could cost people their lives. Pence’s past decisions already have.”

Ocasio-Cortez pointed to reports e that detailed Pence’s problematic history addressing health crises in Indiana while he was governor. During his tenure, Pence was responsible for perpetuating one of the worst HIV outbreaks in the state’s history, which saw 20 new cases a day. She said that Pence’s “science denial” contributed to the outbreak, and reminded folks that the vice president is not a medical doctor or a health expert. 

Cruz, who was in no way cited in this pubic address, responded to AOC on Thursday, asking three condescending questions in a series of tweets: “As you are speaking as the oracle of science, tell us, what exactly is a Y chromosome?” He continued asking her about what age an “unborn child feels pain,” and which country produced the greatest total reduction in CO2 emissions last year, essentially questioning her knowledge of scientific data as she sought to call out Pence.

That response, as Cruz has probably learned (and not for the first time) was a big mistake. Big. Huge. This morning, AOC responded — and she brought her résumé.

Sen. Cruz, while I understand you judge people’s intelligence by the lowest income they’ve had, I hold awards from MIT Lincoln Lab &others for accomplishments in microbiology.

Secondly, I’m surprised you’re asking about chromosomes given that you don’t even believe in evolution. https://t.co/vOIwJhpl7q

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 28, 2020

Turns out AOC was given an award for microbiology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which led to the MIT Lincoln Lab naming an asteroid after her: 23238 Ocasio-Cortez. She linked to an article that explained her prize-winning project at the 2007 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in microbiology. Her project found that “antioxidants could potentially help prevent degenerative illnesses induced by oxidative stress,” according to the QZ report. 

She then hit back at Cruz, hard, writing, “Secondly, I’m surprised you’re asking about chromosomes given that you don’t even believe in evolution.”

Cruz has yet to respond, but it’s likely they might have to speak again at some point. While the two usually duke it out on Twitter about anything from science to the minimum wage, less than a year ago a tweet brought the two together as allies. 

In May, AOC tweeted in support of legislation that would ban former members of Congress from becoming lobbyists. Cruz responded and said, “Here’s something I don’t say often: I agree with @AOC.” She responded and said, “Let’s make a deal.” As of last summer, Ocasio-Cortez and Cruz were still working on the bill to drain the swamp. It’s unclear how Friday’s exchange might muddy those waters, but at the very least, it will likely put Cruz into Twitter hiding for a little while.

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Hunter Biden, who’s name will forever be tied to the impeachment of President Trump, is pivoting his career to… art. Opening up in a New York Times profile, the son of 2020 contender and former Vice President Joe Biden insisted he was serious about his new career as an artist. “[Painting] is literally keeping me sane,” he told the Times. “For years I wouldn’t call myself an artist. Now I feel comfortable saying it.”

Perched in a Hollywood Hills home off of Mulholland Drive that rents for $12,000 a month, Biden describes how he begins his mornings painting in silence. By afternoon he has “a rough idea of a finished product” and takes a break, before getting back to work.

He paints with alcohol ink and a metal straw, and said it can take up to 14 layers to attach to the Japanese Yupo paper he uses. “[Ink] has a natural progression, and you have to be really focused in order to be able to alter it to your own imagination,” he said. The Times described his work as “buried in layers of ink were twisting faces and organs, warm yellows to melancholy blues and angry reds — morphing shapes within shapes.”

So, what exactly inspired this pivot into art? Biden is a former lawyer and lobbyist who openly dealt with drug addiction. Painting, he says, is therapeutic while dealing with his addiction and loss of his mother, sister, and brother. “It keeps me away from people and places where I shouldn’t be,” he said.

He said that the 2015 death of his brother, Beau, set him off on a four-year spiral where he became addicted to crack. Hunter Biden began dating his brother Beau’s widow after his death, and ultimately ended up marrying someone else shortly after. That said, he is no stranger to scandal — especially in the past year. Beyond dating his late brother’s widow, Biden was involved in a paternity lawsuit which revealed he was the father of a toddler in November 2019. The toddler does not belong to Beau’s widow or his current wife.

But, the name Hunter Biden — perhaps before it will ever be known in the art world — is known internationally as the linchpin in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. After President Trump allegedly abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his political rivals, specifically Hunter Biden and his business dealings in Ukraine, he ultimately became entangled in the third presidential impeachment in U.S. history. 

Biden, who sat on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings, was alleged by Trump to have shotty business dealings that Trump wanted Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate. There has been no evidence of wrongdoing with Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine, but he did admit it was “poor judgment” to take on the role in an interview last October. 

Despite the series of scandals that seem to follow him, Biden says art is one of the few things that brings him solace. “It’s the one thing they can’t take away from me or conflate with anything else.”

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Voters in South Carolina will take to the polls on Saturday, deciding who they think will be the strongest contender to beat President Trump. South Carolina has 54 delegates to award — the largest of the early voting states ahead of Super Tuesday — making it a major deciding factor in who will be the Democratic nominee.

A key force in the South Carolina primary are Black voters, who make up about 55% of the Democratic party in the state. In particular, 2020’s most powerful emerging force in this election  are Black women: a demographic group that is taking control over the race, Black women are expected to have one of the highest voter turnouts in this state. Now, every candidate is vying for support in the final hour, making their case for who understands the concerns of Black women, and who can best address them.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 55% of Black women in the U.S. who are registered to vote proceeded to cast ballots in the 2018 midterm election. That is six percentage points higher than the national average of all registered voters, and a number that is anticipated to grow in the 2020 election — especially in states like South Carolina. Black women also drive candidates to demonstrate commitment to issues important to them, such as equal pay and maternal mortality, which have been discussed during many of the Democratic debates.

Aimee Allison, the founder and president of She the People, a group seeking to ensure black women are part of the national political conversation, said candidates won’t be successful if they haven’t established relationships with Black women.

“If you want to know what the possibilities for this country are beyond Trump, then listen to black women, who are extraordinarily engaged, who are following politics, who are the most likely to vote and bring our communities forward, and to support a broad-based justice agenda,” Allison told Fortune.

At a shrimp-and-grits gathering Sunday in South Carolina, local residents told the Washington Post that they were voting for their second choice after Sen. Kamala Harris dropped out of the 2020 race in December. Kim Greene, 56, told the Post she was going to vote for Harris, but now will be voting for former Vice President Joe Biden. 

“We need someone that represents us and Trump does not,” Greene said. “Who will America vote for in a general election?”

Right now, Biden is winning among Black women in the Palmetto State despite slipping in national polls. During Monday night’s debate, Biden declared that he would not only win South Carolina, but that he would put a Black woman on the Supreme Court when he wins the presidency.

“I’m looking forward to making sure there’s a Black woman on the Supreme Court, to make sure we, in fact, get every representation,” he said. “I intend to win South Carolina and I will win the African American vote here in South Carolina,” he added.

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