The right-wing media smear campaign against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reached a crescendo in the past few days with their frantic efforts to publicize a very stupid and obviously fake “nude” photograph of the young representative displaying her feet in the bathtub.
The photograph was immediately exposed as a fake by the, uh, podiatry enthusiasts at Wikifeet.com, but that didn’t stop right-wing rags like the Daily Caller from blasting an article about it across the internet multiple times.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter and leveled the white supremacist-founded and funded agitprop rag in a series of disgusted tweets, correctly pointing out that not only was this a personal smear against her but a harbinger of what any woman entering politics can expect to be thrown her way by a conservative establishment as consumed by ideological revulsion as they are by sexual repression.
For those out of the loop, Republicans began to circulate a fake nude photo of me. The @DailyCaller reposted it (!) and refused to indicate it was fake in the title as well.
Completely disgusting behavior from Conservative outlets.
No wonder they defended Kavanaugh so fiercely.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 10, 2019
The brass at the Daily Caller quickly realized they’d crossed a line in their shameless grab for horny clicks and offered a weak admission of fault and hinted at an apology.
Refusing to back down with the fiery determination we’ve all grown to love, Ocasio-Cortez rejected their insincere mea culpa and accused them of targeting her because of their well-documented defense of white supremacist ideas and their hiring of white supremacists.
a) this is not an apology
b) you’ve been posting hysteric, misrepresentative articles about me nonstop – many within 24h.The @DailyCaller, funded by @TuckerCarlson (at @FoxNews), has a well-documented relationship with white supremacy.
Unsurprising they’re targeting me. https://t.co/LcQuQYWdqk
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 10, 2019
The real question is, at what point is their nonstop, targeted behavior considered harassment?https://t.co/qpjrLpGRLv
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 10, 2019
Let’s learn about this, shall we?
Many have recognized that @FoxNews has crossed a line beyond conservatism and into outright bigotry with their financing of Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. Tucker finances the @DailyCaller, which posted fake nudes of me.
Here’s a breakdown⬇️ https://t.co/nnajlpIcML
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 10, 2019
Just last night, Tucker Carlson was railing against diversity hiring practices on his FOX News show, alleging that they discriminated against whites and “unfairly distributed the spoils of this country” to minorities. His screeds are the closest thing to open blood-and-soil fascism you can find outside of neo-Nazi “publications” like The Daily Stormer, and thus would have a vested interest in tearing down and demeaning a young upstart democratic socialist — especially if she’s a woman of color.
Tucker Carlson and the Daily Caller are making it clear to any woman who tries to run for office that her entire past is fair game, that they have to constantly fear that old videos, photographs, anything they’ve ever done can and will be used to discredit, embarrass, and humiliate them — but AOC is showing them that it’s not going to work.