Snopes went first amongst liberal “reality checkers” in defending Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in opposition to conservative critics of her Instagram Stay testimony in regards to the trauma of the Capitol riot, however different aggressive defenders adopted, at AP and PolitiFact and The Washington Submit. Solely CNN determined to flag AOC for saying some unproven issues.
PolitiFact skipped their “Reality-O-Meter” for a characteristic titled Ask PolitiFact: The place was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the course of the Capitol riot? PolitiFact author Invoice McCarthy was defense-lawyering for AOC:
“AOC wasn’t even within the Capitol constructing throughout her ‘close to loss of life’ expertise,” learn one headline on RedState, one among a number of conservative web sites that questioned Ocasio-Cortez’s account.
“AOC lied!” one other headline stated. “She Wasn’t Even within the Capitol Constructing Through the Riot…Her Life Was By no means in Hazard: Report.”
Comparable claims attacking Ocasio-Cortez cropped up in widespread posts on Fb, the place they have been flagged as a part of the corporate’s efforts to fight false information and misinformation on its Information Feed. (Learn extra about our partnership with Fb.)
The criticism additionally reached cable information. “There have been no rioters in (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s) hallway,” stated Fox Information host Tucker Carlson. “Trump voters weren’t making an attempt to kill her.”
….It’s true that Ocasio-Cortez was not in the primary Capitol constructing the place the Home and Senate chambers are situated as rioters broke in. She was within the Cannon constructing.
However she by no means claimed in her video to have been in the primary Capitol constructing, and the Cannon constructing was one among two buildings within the broader Capitol advanced that was compelled to evacuate.
McCarthy had nothing on AOC claiming Ted Cruz tried to get her killed. For an additional instance of how tremendously biased McCarthy is, see the most recent from James Agresti.
Related Press checker Ali Swenson was additionally “all in” for defending AOC:
CLAIM: U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, falsely claimed she confronted rioters in the primary Capitol constructing in the course of the Jan. 6 revolt.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Ocasio-Cortez by no means claimed she was in the primary Capitol constructing, nor did she declare she was face-to-face with a mob of violent rioters.
Swenson even went comfortable on Jussie Smollett: Critics “appeared to liken the congresswoman to former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, anti-gay assault in opposition to himself in 2019.” Cannot a reality checker acknowledge he faked it?
Washington Submit reality checkers Glenn Kessler and Adriana Usero got here final on Saturday, assigning “4 Pinocchios” to Marjorie Taylor-Greene for saying on Friday “I used to be within the chamber, in contrast to AOC — Consultant Ocasio-Cortez — that faked her outrage with one other hoax, simply one other hoax that will get shared in every single place.” They waited for the most well liked anti-AOC take: “There was no hoax. Ocasio-Cortez’s phrases have been twisted past recognition.”
Kessler and Usero concluded: “Ocasio-Cortez has many critics who leap at any attainable misstep, however the issue was compounded when a tweet by a GOP member of Congress was perceived as confirming the right-wing critique. As an alternative, that lawmaker was faulting the media for misreporting Ocasio-Cortez’s story.”
Ocasio-Cortez additionally has many defenders who leap to defend her and ignore any missteps. Take a bow, Posties.
CNN’s Daniel Dale deserves credit score on this case for being the one one among these to judge AOC, not simply defend her. Is that so exhausting? For instance:
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Wednesday, “The bombs Trump supporters planted surrounded our workplaces too.”
Information First: The assertion that Trump supporters planted the bombs has not been proved.
And the Ted Cruz slur on Twitter:
Ocasio-Cortez responded, “I’m blissful to work with Republicans on this concern the place there’s widespread floor, however you virtually had me murdered 3 weeks in the past so you may sit this one out. Glad to work w/ virtually some other GOP that are not making an attempt to get me killed. Within the meantime if you wish to assist, you may resign.”
Information First: There isn’t any proof for the accusation that Cruz was “making an attempt” to get Ocasio-Cortez killed. Whereas Ocasio-Cortez can mount an affordable argument that the Texas Republican’s actions had the impact of fueling the violent revolt, that is totally different than saying he truly tried to realize the killing of any member of Congress. Cruz didn’t advocate violence in opposition to Ocasio-Cortez, a lot much less name for her homicide.
For his verify on candidate AOC’s dramatic staging of the immigration concern at a fence in Texas, see right here.
Additionally see how nobody requested for AOC stating “with out proof” that she was a sexual assault sufferer.