Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responds to conservatives who criticized her dancing in college with a new video of her dancing outside her congressional office

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responds to conservatives who criticized her dancing in college with a new video of her dancing outside her congressional office

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

  • Newly sworn-in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a much-anticipated clap-back to a right-wing attempt to smear her with a video of her dancing in college. 
  • The 29-year-old progressive lawmaker tweeted a video of herself dancing to Edwin Starr's "War" outside her congressional office on Friday. 
  • "I hear the GOP thinks women dancing are scandalous," she wrote. "Wait till they find out Congresswomen dance too!" 

Newly sworn-in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a much-anticipated clap-back to a right-wing attempt to smear her with a video of her dancing in college. 

The 29-year-old progressive lawmaker tweeted a video of herself dancing to Edwin Starr's "War" outside of her congressional office on Friday. 

"I hear the GOP thinks women dancing are scandalous," she wrote. "Wait till they find out Congresswomen dance too!"

Earlier on Friday, Ocasio-Cortez sarcastically told The Hill that she was happy to be known for her dancing skills. 

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"It is not normal for elected officials to have a reputation for dancing well and I'm happy to be one," the lawmaker said. "It is unsurprising to me that Republicans would think having fun should be disqualifying or illegal."

Two conservative Twitter accounts - Dan Jordan and the since-deactivated AnonymousQ1776 - on Thursday circulated an edited version of Ocasio-Cortez dancing as part of a 2010 video produced by students at Boston University, where she was a student

The video, which featuring students dancing to the song "Lisztomania" by Phoenix and emulating the dance scene from the 1985 film "The Breakfast Club," was posted to YouTube by a university student center that Ocasio-Cortez, a 2011 graduate, was deeply involved with at the time.

The right-wing attack triggered an immediate backlash online and sparked a host of parodies. 

Within hours, a fan had already created a Twitter account with thousands of followers, called "AOC Dances to Every Song," with a dozen versions of the video set to different music.

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Ocasio-Cortez has been a target of right-wing ire since she stunned the political world by winning the Democratic primary in New York in June 2018. As a self-described democratic socialist, she's often the subject of buffoonish attacks from conservative media.

Even many conservatives acknowledged the attempt to smear her backfired, only further endearing her to her supporters.

Jacob Shamsian contributed to this report.

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