| USA TODAY
AOC calls Trump a ‘traitor’ to US after Capitol riots
Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said: “I did not know if I would make the end of the day alive” during the riots in the Capitol.
USA TODAY, Storyful
The claim: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweet asks Democrats to start ‘The Purge’ and put together ‘Conservative traitors’.
Social media users are sharing a photographed tweet alleging that US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., has called for a “purge” of conservatives now that Joe Biden has been elected president.
The tweet appeared after supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the US capital on January 6 and ahead of Ocasio-Cortez’s video made on January 12, in which she called the president a ‘traitor’ of the country and said she feared for her safety during the riot.
“Congratulations to President Joe Biden. Let’s start ‘The Purge’ now to put together all conservative traitors,” read the alleged tweet, posted by one user as a screenshot on Facebook on January 12. “Democrats, let’s make Auschwitz look like a picnic!”
Many users across Facebook shared the same screenshot, which contains Ocasio-Cortez’s profile photo of her personal Twitter account and a blue tick. The tweet has no date or time stamp. USA TODAY targeted Facebook users for comment.
The claim is untrue and there is no evidence that the tweet ever appeared on Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter accounts.
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No evidence of tweet
The image was changed and a search of Ocasio-Cortez’s personal and official Twitter accounts do not contain such tweets that refer to ‘the purification’.
Some users claim she deleted the tweet, but a search on ProPublica’s “Politwoops” database that retrieves tweets deleted by elected officials also has no match among Ocasio-Cortez’s deleted tweets.
On January 14, Ocasio-Cortez addressed the fake tweet on her personal Twitter account and wrote, “FYI there is (another) viral misinformation campaign going on, this time a fake tweet that was photographed to look like I sent a ‘purge’ call.”
This is not the first time Ocasio-Cortez has been the target of fake tweets circulating on social media. USA TODAY recently denied the allegation that Ocasio-Cortez wrote a tweet that her shoes were stolen during the riot in the Capitol.
In July, social media users falsely claimed that Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that governors should maintain restrictions on businesses until after the election.
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Our rating: false
The claim that rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that the Democrats should start ‘the purge’ and round off ‘conservative traitors’ is FALSE, based on our research. She confirmed on Twitter that the tweet was fake, and that there was no record of the tweet on her official Twitter account or ProPublica’s Politwoops archive.
Our sources for fact checking:
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez personal Twitter page
- Official Twitter page of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
- ProPublica Politwoops, deleted tweets from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y.
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, January 14, Tweet
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, November 7, Tweet
- USA TODAY, July 14, “Fact check: a false tweet alleges that AOC urged governors to shut down businesses to hurt Trump”
- USA TODAY, January 15, “Fact check: Ocasio-Cortez lost no shoes. A false tweet alleges they were stolen in riot”
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