AOC's Fake Deleted Tweet on Shut Down Still Spreading on Twitter
New York State Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was recently blamed for a viral Twitter post with controversial statements about the US government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The tweet was fake.
The current global pandemic is causing significant problems even outside the realm of public health. Schools were interrupted, leading to 2020's graduates having to receive diplomas by mail and participate in commencement online. Workforces are doing their best to operate from home or apply social distancing standards wherever possible. However, one of the biggest facets of life adapting to the COVID-19 crisis is the political landscape. Republicans, Democrats, news anchors, and activists are locked in debate over who to blame for the virus' spread across the US, when to reopen, how to reopen, and any number of other issues.
A post that appeared to come from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made the social media rounds last week, adding some unnecessary negativity to the coronavirus conversation. The post shows an image of an AOC tweet reading "It’s vital that Governors maintain restrictions on businesses until after the November Elections because economic recovery will help Trump be re-elected. A few business closures or job losses is a small price to pay to be free from his presidency. #KeepUsClosed". The screenshot shows the tweet as having been retweeted over 20,000 times and liked nearly 18,000 times. Snopes is one of many sources explaining the tweet was fake.
Ocasio-Cortez's Twitter account shows no evidence that the tweet ever existed. Per the fiction surrounding the fake tweet, it was supposedly posted, shared profusely, and eventually deleted. None of the various online sources that keep track of deleted tweets have any evidence of her ever posting this one, and, for what it's worth, her tweet archives are very often scrutinized. Furthermore, the alleged 20,000-plus retweets would mean at least that many other accounts would have shared the tweet, and there's no evidence of that, either.
That begs the question, why would someone make a fake tweet about this? The easy assumption to make is the doctored image was made to sow anti-Democrat sentiments. As the US slowly reopens, many people continue to feel that the measures taken to shut down non-essential businesses and enact social distancing were extreme. President Trump has mostly been a huge proponent of "restarting the economy" as quickly as possible, and that's a sentiment with which his constituents and supporters agree. In effect, the argument that we should reopen and get back to "business as usual" has become a pro-Trump argument, as Democrat political leaders, medical health experts, and epidemiologists caution against creating a potential second wave of the virus. If the economy bounces back quickly, it makes Trump appear to have been correct in his assessment. If the virus worsens, it weakens his political stock.
Therefore, having a prominent, outspoken Democrat like Ocasio-Cortez appear to confirm the pro-Trump conspiracy theory that the left wants the economy to remain closed so that Trump doesn't "win", works as a smoking gun. It would throw into question every institution supporting social distancing, and give credit to conspiracy theorists and people who hate face masks. Even now, after the image has been proven false and Trump supporters on Fox News have deleted their own tweets about the fake AOC tweet, many still choose to believe it's real. Confirmation biases are immune to the effects of reality.
Source: Snopes