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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez goes after NBC News for falsely suggesting she snubbed Biden at the DNC and causing 'an incredible amount of damage'

Aug 19, 2020, 23:01 IST
Business Insider
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks with the media in her New York City district.BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images
  • Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned NBC News after the network published a tweet suggesting the congresswoman snubbed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the DNC.
  • Ocasio-Cortez was selected to deliver a procedural nominating speech for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who earned enough delegates to be formally nominated at the Democratic convention.
  • NBC falsely suggested the congresswoman, who endorsed and campaigned for Sanders, had snubbed Biden by nominating Sanders. It later deleted and clarified the tweet.
  • The congresswoman went after the network, accusing it of spreading "malicious" misinformation that sparked confusion and a backlash against her online.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned NBC News after the network published a tweet suggesting the congresswoman snubbed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during her Tuesday night convention speech.

Ocasio-Cortez delivered brief remarks symbolically nominating Sen. Bernie Sanders, who she endorsed and campaigned for, for president on Tuesday — a purely procedural move.

But in a tweet promoting its story about the speech, NBC wrote that Ocasio-Cortez "did not endorse Joe Biden," sparking confusion and backlash online about Ocasio-Cortez's motivations.

Shortly after her 60 second-long speech aired, Ocasio-Cortez celebrated Biden's nomination, tweeting "Congratulations, @JoeBiden - I deeply look forward to fighting for our future together and reclaiming our democracy in November."

After a host of reporters and others criticized NBC's tweet on Tuesday night, the network deleted the message and shared an editor's note correcting it three hours after its publication.

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"Ocasio-Cortez was asked by the DNC to second Sanders' nomination. The nomination is a procedural requirement of the convention," the network wrote. "Ocasio-Cortez has previously endorsed Biden, & her speech was similar in length to other nominating speeches."

The 30-year-old freshman lawmaker called NBC's tweet "completely unacceptable, disappointing, and appalling" and accused it of an effort to "generate hate-clicks." She argued that it was "malicious & misleading" and "sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol."

The purpose of the convention is to bring Democrats and Biden-supporting Republicans together from across the ideological spectrum in a united push to defeat Trump. The week's events have featured a wide range of voices, from Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez on the left to Republicans John Kasich, Colin Powell, and Cindy McCain on the right.

Ocasio-Cortez pushed the network to do more to correct its mistake.

"So @NBCNews how are you going to fix the incredible amount of damage and misinformation that you are now responsible for?" she wrote. "Because a 1:15am tweet to slip under the radar after blowing up a totally false and divisive narrative across networks isn't it."

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