Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Addresses Parody Account Wreaking Havoc on Twitter

New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addressed a parody account on Twitter that was impersonating her and wreaking havoc across the social media platform.

“FYI there’s a fake account on here impersonating me and going viral. The Twitter CEO has engaged it, boosting visibility,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet. “It is releasing false policy statements and gaining spread. I am assessing with my team how to move forward. In the meantime, be careful of what you see.”

The announcement by Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC, comes shortly after the parody account, with the name “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Press Release (parody)” and has a handle of “AOCPress” began posting tweets posing as the New York Democratic Representative.

As AOC noted in her real tweet, many have reposted the parody account including Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 24, 2023, in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, May 30, 2023, Ocasio-Cortez responded to a parody account that was created to impersonate her. Alex Wong/Getty

In a tweet, the AOC parody account wrote, “This might be the wine talking, but I’ve got a crush on @ElonMusk.”

Musk then responded to the fake tweet with a fire emoji.

In addition to Musk, some others also responded to the parody account including Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

Cruz responded to a tweet from the parody account which said, “Farming should be illegal,” saying that eating should also be illegal.

“Note: the AOC account is a parody account,” Cruz wrote in a follow-up tweet to his initial response.

Seth Dillon, the CEO of the satire news site The Babylon Bee also responded to the announcement by AOC and said, “If your account is indistinguishable from parody, who’s to blame for the confusion?”

Laura Loomer of the conservative investigative journalist site Project Veritas wrote, “I can’t tell the difference between AOC’s or a parody account anymore.”

“Just like I can no longer tell whether AOC or MTG is the dumbest member of Congress,” Loomer added, alluding to Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski shared a screenshot of a response from Sandy Smith, a Republican nominee for Congress in North Carolina and said, “This AOC parody account has right-wingers really upset today. Who think it is AOC.”

Journalist Brian Krassenstein also responded to the tweet from AOC and said, “While I absolutely respect the right for people who have a parody account, this case specifically is very deceiving since the ‘parody’ wording is not seen on most devices unless the username is clicked. I agree that Musk should do something about it.”

Newsweek reached out to AOC’s press office via email for comment