Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez finds Fox News attacks on her 'really, really fascinating'

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Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared on the first episode on the new CNN series Being… from Dana Bash, where she admitted to occasionally checking out what Fox News is saying about her. Fox has been targeting the outspoken congresswoman since very early in her political career, making Ocasio-Cortez the focus of right-wing hatred. But she believes the false narratives about her pushed by Fox says more about them than it does her.

“Do you ever watch Fox News?” Bash asked. “Do you watch what they say about you?” “Not a ton. Every once in a while I do, and I think that it's really fascinating,” Ocasio-Cortez answered. “I actually find it to be really, really fascinating because it reveals a lot about the subconscious of folks that are crafting these narratives, and they very often are speaking to these very subconscious narratives about women, or about people of color, or about Latinos or Latinas, or about working-class people. You know, these caricatures that are developed are not really personal, they are societal.”

But what comes along with those attacks by Fox and other right-wing outlets are countless death threats. Not only has Ocasio-Cortez admitted to reviewing photos of men who want to kill her, just in case she sees them approaching, but one man who threatened to “assassinate” her allegedly entered the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.

“There were moments where I thought that I was going to die before the 6th,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “The thing that I think some folks may not understand, is how direct the through-line is between right-wing targeting on TV and how much that is actually a driver of very real physical threats.”

Video Transcript

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- Do you watch what they say about you?

- Not at a time. Every once in a while, I do. And I think that it's really fascinating. I actually find it to be really, really fascinating.

- New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez sat down with CNN's Dana Bash for the new series Being. Where she admitted to sometimes checking out what Fox News says about her. Ocasio Cortez has been a target of Fox since early in her political career, which she believes says more about them than it does her.

- It reveals a lot about the subconscious of folks that are crafting these narratives, and they very often are speaking to these very subconscious narratives about women, or about people of color, or about Latinos, or Latinas.

- Ocasio Cortez is unfazed by Fox News, but that's not the case when it comes from her Democratic colleagues.

- The harder one is the critiques from within the party. That is the one. That's the stuff that hurts, but the right wing stuff doesn't hurt.

- While Ocasio Cortez may not be hurt by the right wing attacks, they come with real world danger in the form of countless death threats. In fact, it's so bad that she sometimes wakes up and reviews photos of men who want to kill her just in case she sees them approaching.

- The thing that I think some folks may not understand is how direct the through-line is between right wing targeting on TV and the how much that is actually a driver a very real physical threats.