‘I was subject to a lot of really vile rhetoric and attacks all day today, because of a rumor,’ Ocasio-Cortez said on Instagram
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is firing back at “rumors” from left-wing activists that she is hosting a high school military recruitment fair, claiming on Instagram that “large accounts” were making up lies about a recent event whose guests included military personnel from service academies.
Ocasio-Cortez co-hosted a “students service fair” with Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., Monday for high schoolers in the Bronx to “learn about the resources available to students” through the district office and connect them with service academies, according to a flyer for the event.
At the event were guests from the U.S. military, Marines, Naval Academy, Air Force and Coast Guard, prompting backlash toward the progressive representative who proposed a ban on certain forms of military recruitment in 2020.
“Politics is so crazy because people can just wake up and make up whatever they want to say about you,” Ocasio-Cortez said on her Instagram account Monday evening. “Today, someone made up a rumor that I, me, was hosting a military recruitment fair for high schoolers. Does that sound like something I would do? No… But Somebody started a rumor that that’s what was going on. Everyone just believed it and accepted it. And the problem is when large accounts start platforming this, then is starts spreading like a wildfire and results in demands to cancel this event or for me to not show up to it.”
✨✨Join me and @repaoc for our Student Service Fair on March 20th, from 4-6:00 pm at The Bronx Renaissance High School.
— Adriano Espaillat (@RepEspaillat) March 15, 2023
As summer fast approaches, learn more about all the valuable resources available to students through our district offices.
SIGN UP⬇️https://t.co/G2wuDV7baa pic.twitter.com/WwqcKQhlYN
The congresswoman said that spreading false rumors is “not just a right wing thing” and those who made claims regarding the event should take down the posts.
“For doing this today, I was subject to a lot of really vile rhetoric and attacks all day today, because of a rumor. And I can’t stress how much this is not just a right wing thing,” the progressive representative said. “And then even worse, after some of these accounts started platforming and spreading this completely false claim, it circulated big. There was one account where twelve thousand people like it… It leads to real safety issues and I just think it’s an opportunity for all of us to pause and take a breath, because it’s not all it looks like sometimes.”
By Aubrie Spady
