(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez, D-N.Y., responded to a parody account of herself, launching a myriad of complaints against it and Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who retweeted some of the parody’s posts.
“FYI there’s a fake account on here impersonating me and going viral. The Twitter CEO has engaged it, boosting visibility,” Ocasio–Cortez tweeted.
FYI there’s a fake account on here impersonating me and going viral. The Twitter CEO has engaged it, boosting visibility.
It is releasing false policy statements and gaining spread.
I am assessing with my team how to move forward. In the meantime, be careful of what you see.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 30, 2023
“It is releasing false policy statements and gaining spread,” she continued. “I’m assessing with my team how to move forward. In the meantime, be careful of what you see.”
According to the Post Millennial, the parody account, known as “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Press Release (parody),” gained over 190,000 followers since AOC tweeted about it. The account now has 260,900 followers.
The account responded to AOC’s tweet in a clear jest: “I can’t believe someone would do that to us,” it joked.
I can’t believe someone would do that to us. https://t.co/8fHiPFgHIv
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Press Release (parody) (@AOCpress) May 30, 2023
The clearly marked parody account stirred up some controversy, particularly after AOC claimed it was releasing “policy statements.”
A minority of users expressed the view that it was in poor taste to allow the parody to continue.
The account made fun of several of AOC’s policy positions—particularly some of the more ridiculous stunts she’s pulled, such as her fake photo shoot at the southern border.
“Feeling cute, might go to the southern border for another photo shoot,” said one post.
From my southern border photo shoot earlier today.
h/t @NautPoso pic.twitter.com/DIrTkRyuxs
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Press Release (parody) (@AOCpress) May 30, 2023
Several posts took aim at her environmental policies, decrying cow farts as “racist,” clarifying that she would stop complaining about cow farts if they produced “fat-free, organic almond milk.”
If you could milk a cow and get fat-free, organic almond milk, I wouldn’t complain about their farts so much.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Press Release (parody) (@AOCpress) May 31, 2023
“I went to the beach this morning and the water was really low. I went back this evening and the water was really high,” another tweet read. “This is 100% proof that global warming is real.”
The account even got Elon Musk’s attention when it poked fun at AOC’s interactions with him.
🔥
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2023
Other Twitter users got in on the fun, making memes and quipping on the clever posts.
— The Right To Bear Memes (@grandoldmemes) May 30, 2023
I still won't date you @AOC
h/t @MostlyPeacefull pic.twitter.com/SyNxG1nP7p
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Press Release (parody) (@AOCpress) May 30, 2023
Despite her threat to take action, it is unlikely that the socialist lawmaker will have any particular recourse available.
A previous defamation lawsuit by then-Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., failed in the courts, despite Nunes’s claims that the accounts—one of which parodied his mother—had resulted in genuine harm on his family. Since then, parody accounts of public figures have proliferated.
Ocasio–Cortez also has had challenges of her own with Twitter-related censorship. In 2019, she was forced to unblock members of the public who sued arguing that she had violated their First Amendment right to petition the government.
