It’s always ironic when radical ideologues decry “disinformation,” since so many of them are enthusiastic propagandists.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) recently engaged in a blatant self-own while condemning “misinformation in all directions.”
The level of misinformation in all directions at this moment is incredibly high, especially on this platform.
If you see a claim, photo, or video that triggers a strong emotional reaction, take a moment to pause and check for veracity/confirmation from multiple sources.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 13, 2023
“If you see a claim, photo, or video that triggers a strong emotional reaction, take a moment to pause and check for veracity/confirmation from multiple sources,” she implored.
There could not be a more ironic messenger for such a statement on the entire Internet.
Unfortunately for Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, viral social media posts may be fleeting, but the Internet is forever.
And users on X lined up to give AOC a brief history lesson on “The Squad’s” compulsive use of misinformation to ramp up support for their radical causes.
One-time token conservative on ‘The View’ Meghan McCain hit her with a visual reminder of how AOC ginned up the “kids in cages” hoax.
https://t.co/xcDz5qBiZZ pic.twitter.com/sEV3mfEQBX
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) October 14, 2023
This is what AOC posted in 2019, one year after the allegedly ‘staged’ photos were taken.
I’ll never forget this, because it was the moment I saw with my own eyes that the America I love was becoming a nation that steals refugee children from their parents,& caged them.
More kids died after this. To date, no one has been held accountable.
We need to save these kids. https://t.co/HhdMqc5zML
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) June 25, 2019
“I’ll never forget this, because it was the moment I saw with my own eyes that the America I love was becoming a nation that steals refugee children from their parents,& caged them,” she claimed. “More kids died after this. To date, no one has been held accountable. We need to save these kids.”
Beyond the accusations that she was crying next to a parking lot, her maudlin theatrics are misleading the alleged “concentration camps” under Trump are temporary holding facilities designed to ensure the safety of children from potential adult predators, as well as relieve overcrowding from so many unauthorized immigrants being brought into the United States.
Furthermore, the typical separation time is no longer than three days, according to Border Patrol, and parents and children are reunited after this separation period.
But AOC changed her tone when Biden came to power, pivoting from her disingenuous epithet that these holding facilities were akin to “concentration camps” to much more “subdued” criticism.
Little bit more subdued response than flying to the border to scream through a chainlink fence. https://t.co/eYmTNFKuF3
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 23, 2021
So … “concentration camps”?
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) February 23, 2021
AOC actually shot back embarrassingly on social media to decry the accusations.
Incidentally, AOC has also used the “kids in cages” line of attack against Israel, as well.
“I don’t believe that a child should be in a cage on our border and I don’t believe a child should be in a cage in the West Bank,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
As left-wing outlet Mediaite noted: “Even though Israel has its separation barrier in the West Bank — which has been a subject of controversy for years because of its impact on Palestinians — it’s not clear whether this is what Ocasio-Cortez was referring to, and her office declined to elaborate when the Insider asked for examples to back up her claim.”
Misinformation? It certainly appears to be so.
As for her fellow Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), she was caught spreading a blatantly false photo alleging to depict children being killed in Israel’s war against Hamas.
Ilhan Omar has reposted an image purported to be from Gaza but is actually a 2013 image of child victims of the Assad regime’s Eastern Ghouta gas attack.
This is a sitting Congresswoman. I have absolutely no words. pic.twitter.com/To3qrHIGP3
— Kareem Rifai ? (@KareemRifai) October 14, 2023
The photo was pointed out to be from 2013 and the victims were allegedly from an attack by Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad.
Ilhan Omar subsequently doubled down to accuse Israel of “ethnic cleansing” for retaliating against Hamas attacks that killed over a thousand civilians.
The mass expulsion of over 1 million people in a day is ethnic cleansing.
The UN has already said this is “impossible” and will have “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
We have to stop ignoring the thousands of Palestinian lives lost and millions at stake! We must use all… https://t.co/dEwri2SOjS
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) October 13, 2023
AOC can also be dinged for numerous cases of pushing hoaxes, such as the Jussie Smollett fake “hate crime.”
Of course AOC was a knee-jerk Jussie Smollett hoaxer. https://t.co/rIZTbHmXI7 pic.twitter.com/PVBJ0yQRLV
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) October 13, 2023
If AOC wants us to believe her condemnation of “misinformation” is sincere, she should stop resorting to theatrics to emotionally manipulate people into coming to warped conclusions about U.S. politics and world affairs.
Then again, if she did stop misleading people, she would no longer be a radical.
