Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Denies Warren Endorsement is Imminent, Blasts 'Alt-Right Outlets'

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) arrives at a House Democrats meeting at the Capitol May 22 Alex Wong/Getty Images

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized "alt-right" media outlets and questioned their reporting ethics Friday over speculation about that the congresswoman was set to endorse a Democratic candidate for president.

"Yeah I don't know why people are suddenly trusting alt-right outlets with 'scoops' on who I'm endorsing. Let's use our reading skills. Context clues. If they haven't ever reported about me honestly & in good faith, why would they start now? I'm not endorsing for some time," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

The New York representative's comments follow speculation that she would endorse Senator Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic party's nomination. The Washington Examiner reported earlier this week that a "longtime Warren watcher" thought the Massachusetts senator was "on track" to win Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement.

Picking up the Examiner piece, the Daily Wire story titled their own article "REPORT: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez To Endorse Elizabeth Warren Over Bernie Sanders."

The articles focused on recent interactions between Ocasio-Cortez and Warren, and The Daily Wire article said that Warren has been "cozying up to Ocasio-Cortez."

Right-wing media outlets have produced articles on recent interactions between the two lawmakers, like a video discussing the Game of Thrones finale. They also ran articles about Ocasio-Cortez's defense of Warren following a Washington Post article about the senator's work as a lawyer prior to taking office, which generated backlash because of its headline noting Warren was paid as much as $675 an hour.

Commenting on that article, Ocasio-Cortez offered her own suggestion for what she viewed as a more accurate headline: "Lady Had A Job, Got Paid More Than Me Nice work. Now do the amount of Wall Street, Big Pharma, & Fossil Fuel presidential candidates accepted over their careers & how much they're taking now."

Although the right-wing media reports focused on Ocasio-Cortez's recent interactions with Warren, the freshman representative told reporters earlier this month that she was not ready to endorse a candidate for president. The first term representative offered positive comments about Washington Governor Jay Inslee, who has built his campaign around addressing climate change, Senator Cory Booker's "leadership" on criminal justice reform and Senator Bernie Sanders' "values." She also appeared on a Facebook Live video earlier this month along with Sanders to announce the Loan Shark Prevention Act, which seeks to impose a 15 percent limit on credit card interest rates.

The speculation about the possible Warren endorsement aligned with right-wing media's heavy focus on the New York representative. Ocasio-Cortez has regularly drawn national news attention, with right-wing outlets joining in the extensive coverage. Conservative pundits and writers have frequently offered sexist remarks when commenting on the representative and her progressive positions. Messaging from many conservatives and the president have sought to stoke fear about socialism, pointing to her Ocasio-Cortez's identification as a democratic socialist.

However, right-wing media outlets are not the only ones to have questioned whether a connection exists between Ocasio-Cortez and Warren. In March, the two lawmakers mocked a CNN reporter who had confirmed with multiple sources that the senator and the congresswoman had lunch together.

"BREAKING: We had labneh," replied a tongue-in-cheek Ocasio-Cortez.

Added Warren: "BREAKING: We also had iced tea!"

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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez arrives at a House Democrats meeting at the Capitol on May 22. Alex Wong/Getty Images

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Daniel Moritz-Rabson is a breaking news reporter for Newsweek based in New York. Before joining Newsweek Daniel interned at PBS NewsHour ... Read more

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