Watch Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explain why she tackles Twitter trolls
"Don't feed the trolls" is a cardinal rule of the internet — a rule Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) chooses to ignore.
When commenters, pundits, and even elected officials target the freshman congresswoman's progressive ideas on Twitter, she does the unthinkable: She responds. It's all in an effort to debunk "completely unfounded attacks" before "they grow legs and start walking around," she tells Spectrum News NY1.
Most high-profile politicians ignore "bad faith attacks," like those from "birther" conspiracists claiming former President Barack Obama wasn't born in the U.S., Ocasio-Cortez notes in the interview that aired Tuesday night. But ignoring those attacks because they're "beneath the president" only caused them to grow, she continued. That's why Ocasio-Cortez says "sometimes," it's necessary to "break this fourth wall a little bit" and "squash" a rumor or conspiracy "early."
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Ocasio-Cortez also discussed why it's important for a congressmember to live in their district and the everyday details of her Green New Deal in the hour-long interview. Listen to it all at Spectrum News NY1.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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