Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is becoming just as well known for her Twitter takedowns as her transparency over social media.
When it comes to social media, few political stars are shining as brightly these days as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the numbers are there to prove it.
With 1.54 million Twitter followers and counting, the New York congresswoman-elect has already garnered as many fans on the social media platform as the other incoming 63 Democratic freshman House members combined.
And while AOC, as the politician’s fans have dubbed her, has received high praise for her transparency on social media, the 29-year-old has also developed a reputation for taking down the many Twitter trolls and critics who have made a habit of questioning her credentials.
Here we take a look at some of the New York politician’s « most-liked » Twitter takedowns so far:
1) ‘Try Google,’ John
Since launching her grassroots election campaign, Ocasio-Cortez has been open about her own life story, sharing the role her working-class Bronx roots played in driving her desire to represent New Yorkers in Congress.
However, Ocasio-Cortez’s account of her upbringing has prompted much scrutiny from critics, with politicians and reporters alike criticizing everything from the home she grew up in to the clothing she wears today.
During AOC’s election campaign, Newsmax’s John Cardillo posted a photo of Ocasio-Cortez’s childhood home to Twitter, saying « this is the Yorktown Heights (very nice area) home » the politician « grew up in before going off to Ivy League Brown University. A far cry from the Bronx hood upbringing she’s selling. »
Cardillo quickly became one of the first to feel the AOC burn, with Ocasio-Cortez quickly correcting the reporter to say she « did not go to Brown or the Ivy League, » but to Boston University. « Try Google, » she wrote.
Adding that while the area she grew up in was a « good town for working people…my mom scrubbed toilets so I could live here. And I grew up seeing how the ZIP code one is born in determines much of their opportunity.
« Your attempt to strip me of my family, my story, my home, and my identity is exemplary of how scared you are of the power of all four of those things. »
2) ‘Misogyny without an apology? I don’t think so’
Not long after Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest person to be elected to Congress, Washington Examiner reporter Eddie Scarry decided to join Cardillo in tearing into her claims of a working-class upbringing.
The reporter honed in on AOC’s choice of clothing. Tweeting out a photo of Ocasio-Cortez from the back, Scarry wrote: « Hill staffer sent me this pic of Ocasio-Cortez they took just now. I’ll tell you something that jacket and coat don’t look like a girl who struggles. »
The contentious tweet was quick to receive a response from Ocasio-Cortez, who wrote: « If I walked into Congress wearing a sack, they would laugh and take a picture of my backside. If I walk in with my best sale-rack clothes, they laugh and take a picture of my backside. »
When the reporter quietly deleted the tweet after facing strong social media backlash, Ocasio-Cortez wrote: « Oh, does Scarry think he can delete his misogyny without an apology? I don’t think so. You’re a journalist—readers should know your bias. »
« Dark hates light—that’s why you tune it out, » she said to supporters. « Shine bright and keep it pushing. »
3) ‘Your weird uncle with questionable racial beliefs’
Despite deleting his original tweet questioning Ocasio-Cortez’s background, Cardillo has not shied away from criticizing the New York congressmember-elect.
