Twitter troll shares old video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez young, happy and dancing
A newly-surfaced video of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing with friends in college has gained widespread attention online. The video shows the newly-elected representative from New York reenacting an iconic dance scene from "The Breakfast Club," while wearing a Boston University shirt.
It is unclear how the video surfaced – Ocasio-Cortez graduated from Boston University in 2011 – but many Twitter users were reposting the video to shame the congresswoman.
"Here is America's favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is," Twitter user AnonymousQ1776 wrote. Many Twitter users said this account was the first to "leak" the video, although it is unclear where the video actually came from or who originally posted it.
"...High School video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez -- Congratulations New York!" another person wrote sarcastically.
One person pointed out that reenacting this scene from the John Hughes movie was a trend for college students when Ocasio-Cortez was enrolled at Boston University.
"A decade ago, somebody uploaded a video that mashed up an iconic dance scene from THE BREAKFAST CLUB (1985) with a current popular hit, Pheonix's Lisztomania," Twitter user Parker Higgins explained. "Shortly after that went viral, a group of Brooklyn let's-face-it hipsters did a shot for shot remake of the mash-up, which was pretty exciting at the time!"
Higgins pointed out that several colleges made their own versions of the mashup video – and this was Boston University's.
The video divided the Internet – some calling it "scandalous" and "bizarre" others applauding Ocasio-Cortez's dance moves.
"That video we found of #Ocasio dancing should destroy her political career. I expect there will be calls for her to resign by tonight," Jack Kimble – who claims to be a Republican Congressman on Twitter, but is not – tweeted.
Many met this criticism with sarcasm. "Republicans have discovered the one thing that can TRULY destroy Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: videos of her being fun and cool," one person wrote.
A parody Twitter account has even been made for the now-viral dance video. "AOC Dances to Everything" shares the same video over and over, editing in a different song each time. The account itself has gone viral, gaining nearly 12,000 followers in just hours.
The Hill reporter Olivia Beavers said she spoke to Ocasio-Cortez after the video went viral. "It is not normal for elected officials to have a reputation for dancing well and I'm happy to be one," Ocasio-Cortez said, according to Beavers. "It is unsurprising to me that Republicans would think having fun should be disqualifying or illegal."
