We’ve been hearing a lot about ‘fake news’ in the last several years. Trump, of course, generates the most headlines in this category.
But now there’s a new contender calling out fake news: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Earlier today, Politico published a story about how Ocasio-Cortez is targeting Rep. Hakeem Jeffries to try and unseat him in 2020. This is sure to ruffle some feathers between her and Jeffries as they have to work together in the Congress.
But Ocasio-Cortez was quick to call this fake news, pointing out that it has no legitimate sources and is ‘bird cage’ material:
One disappointment about DC is the gossip that masquerades as “reporting.”
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 18, 2018
This story has:
- Not a SINGLE named or verifiable source
- Only ONE on-the-record comment, which is a denial.
My dad had a name for junk articles like this:
“Birdcage lining.”
https://t.co/kIBMM2eiWb
For the record, this is the second @politico article about me in a short period of time with *0* named sources to back claims containing false information.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 18, 2018
Their articles are printed + distributed to **Congressional offices** - w/ no named sources.
It’s really unfortunate.
What’s funny is a CBS reporter then accused Ocasio of using Donald Trump’s defense:
This sounds a bit like the defense Donald Trump uses when an article cites multiple unnamed sources. If it contains anonymous sources, it is therefore "fake news." https://t.co/zr2AbMxyK3
— Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) December 18, 2018
I don’t know if the story is fake news or not. Ocasio could be trying to spin it as fake news because she didn’t want the information leaked as it might hurt her relationships with Democrats in the house.
Or it could be exactly as she deems it, fake news. There’s certainly some of that going around these days.