Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes the eastern part of the Bronx, portions of north-central Queens, and Rikers Island in New York City.

On June 26, 2018, Ocasio-Cortez drew national recognition when she won the Democratic Party's primary election for New York's 14th congressional district. She defeated Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, in what was widely seen as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries. She easily won the November general election, defeating Republican Anthony Pappas. She was reelected in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

Taking office at age 29, Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress. She has been noted for her substantial social media presence relative to her fellow members of Congress. Ocasio-Cortez attended Boston University, where she double-majored in international relations and economics, graduating cum laude. She was previously an activist and worked as a waitress and bartender before running for Congress in 2018.

Alongside Rashida Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez was the first female member of the Democratic Socialists of America elected to serve in Congress. She advocates a progressive platform that includes support for workplace democracy, Medicare for All, tuition-free public college, a federal jobs guarantee, a Green New Deal, and abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In an attempt to embarrass Ocasio-Cortez just before she took office, Twitter user "AnonymousQ" shared a video dating to Ocasio-Cortez's college years: a Boston University student-produced dance video in which she briefly appeared. Many social media users came to her defense, inspiring memes and a Twitter account syncing the footage to songs like "Mambo No. 5" and "Gangnam Style". Ocasio-Cortez responded by posting a video of herself dancing to Edwin Starr's "War" outside her congressional office.

Her colleagues appointed her to teach them social media lessons upon her arrival in Congress. In early July 2019 two lawsuits were filed against her for blocking Joey Salads and Dov Hikind on Twitter in light of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that it was a violation of the First Amendment for President Trump to block people on Twitter. On November 4, 2019, it was announced that they settled the lawsuit with Ocasio-Cortez issuing a statement apologizing for the Twitter block.

According to a Media Matters for America study, Ocasio-Cortez has been intensely discussed on sister television channels Fox News and Fox Business, being mentioned every day from February 25 to April 7, 2019, for a total of 3,181 mentions in 42 days (an average of around 75 per day). The Guardian's David Smith wrote that this is evidence that Fox is "obsessed by Ocasio-Cortez, portraying her as a radical socialist who threatens the American way of life".

In March 2019, PolitiFact reported that Ocasio-Cortez is "one of the most targeted politicians for hoax claims, despite the fact that she just entered Congress as a freshman". Fake quotes attributed to her, fake photos of her, and false rumors about her have spread on social media. Some of these have originated from 4chan and r/The_Donald. By July 2019, the fake material included attributing things Trump said to Ocasio-Cortez, such as "I have a very good brain and I've said lots of things."

Ocasio-Cortez is known to wear red lipstick, usually by the American makeup brand Stila Cosmetics in the shade "Beso", as a style trait of Latina women from the Bronx. In a skincare tutorial for Vogue, she explained that beauty and femininity are important to her because these things are often used against women in politics and society, and that self-love is like a "mini protest" against misogynistic critiques.

Ocasio-Cortez attended the 2021 Met Gala, which had the theme "In America: a Lexicon of Fashion". Ocasio-Cortez wore an organza gown emblazoned with the phrase "Tax the Rich". As an elected official in New York City she was considered a guest of the museum, and as such did not have to buy a ticket, which costs at least $35,000. Critics, both conservative and liberal, rebuked Ocasio-Cortez for attending an event where guests were not required to wear masks but event staff were and for attending an event known for its opulent display of wealth and social status. She responded that they were using a sexist double standard and that she "punctured the fourth wall of excess and spectacle."

In September 2021, the American Accountability Foundation filed an ethics complaint against Ocasio-Cortez for attending the Met Gala. The AAF claimed that her attendance amounted to accepting an illegal gift since her estimated $35,000 ticket was paid for by Condé Nast, a for-profit company, not a charity. The event itself is a charitable fundraiser.

Ocasio-Cortez has been a vocal supporter of labor rights, including a $15 per hour federal minimum wage. In May 2019, she returned to bartending at the Queensboro Restaurant in Jackson Heights, Queens, to promote the Raise the Wage Act, which would increase the minimum hourly wage for restaurant servers and other tipped workers from $2.13 to $15. Speaking to restaurant workers, customers and reporters, she criticized an exemption in U.S. minimum wage law for restaurants and the service sector that allows them to be paid less than $7.25 per hour, saying, "Any job that pays $2.13 per hour is not a job, it is indentured servitude."

On January 20, 2021, Ocasio-Cortez skipped the inauguration of Joe Biden in order to join the 2021 Hunts Point Produce Market strike in the Bronx.

In December 2020, Robert Unanue, CEO of Goya Foods, claimed Ocasio-Cortez led a failed boycott on the company that resulted in increasing the company's sales. The claim of an attempted boycott was untrue, based on criticism made by Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter.