‘Gossip masquerading as reporting’: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez flogs Politico for ‘fake news’

Congressmember-elect and rising political star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has lashed out at Politico, accusing the news outlet of repeatedly running fact-deficient stories about her based on anonymous sources.

Ocasio-Cortez, who is set to become the youngest woman to serve in Congress, took to social media to air one of her major grievances about her new life in the nation’s capital: Sloppy journalism.

“One disappointment about DC is the gossip that masquerades as ‘reporting’,” she wrote in a tweet posted on Tuesday. Attaching a Politico article alleging that she was plotting to unseat a fellow House Democrat, Ocasio-Cortez noted that the article relied on anonymous sources – and that the only on-the-record comment was a denial.

“My dad had a name for junk articles like this: ‘Birdcage lining,’” she quipped.

According to the soon-to-be congresswoman, the piece represents the second Politico article about her “in a short period of time with 0 named sources” to back the claims being made.

“Their articles are printed + distributed to **Congressional offices** - w/ no named sources. It’s really unfortunate,” she added.

In November, Ocasio-Cortez railed against Politico for reporting that she had “clashed” with Congressman Frank Pallone over climate change during a closed-door meeting attended by House Democrats.

She claimed that the article was “completely false” and that she only said hello to the congressman during the meeting, describing him as “very kind.”

Many responded to Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitter feud with Politico by suggesting that she and Trump – despite holding radically different political views – were perhaps kindred spirits united by a common enemy: the dreaded “fake news” media.

“Dare I say ‘Fake News’ ? It's real! Welcome to the swamp!” one Twitter user wrote.

“So you and Trump agree on something! It’s a good start,” said another.

Others took the opposite view, arguing that criticizing anonymous sources plays into Trump’s media-skeptic narrative.

Politico is world-famous for its fondness of anonymous sources – and even anonymous authors. Last month the outlet ran a story suggesting that a dubious Guardian exclusive about an alleged meeting between former Trump campaign manager Paul Manfort and Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange might be a product of Kremlin disinformation. The illuminating piece of conspiracy theory was penned by a nameless ex-CIA officer.

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