Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) criticized NBC News on Wednesday morning in response to the network’s misleading tweet regarding a nomination statement she had made at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) the night before.
Ocasio-Cortez had seconded the nomination of Sen. Bernie Sanders for president at the DNC on Tuesday night, doing so in the name of a “movement striving to recognize and repair the wounds of racial injustice, colonization, misogyny and homophobia.”
“In a time when millions of people in the United States are looking for deep systemic solutions to our crisis of mass evictions, unemployment, and lack of health care, en el espíritu del pueblo, and out of a love for all people, I hereby second the nomination of Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for president of the United States of America,” Ocasio-Cortez added.
Some on social media were confused by her nomination statement, however, curious as to whether it meant she wouldn’t be supporting the party’s nominee Joe Biden. The congresswoman explained to users on Twitter that her message was a procedural one necessary to count delegates voting for Sanders in the nomination process.
“If you were confused, no worries! Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold. I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call,” she tweeted out. “I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden – let’s go win in November.”
Ocasio-Cortez took a more critical tone, however, toward NBC News, as it had wrongly suggested she was not supporting Biden’s candidacy for president, and had also termed her nomination statement a DNC speech.
“In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden,” the network said of her nomination statement for Sanders.
The company later deleted the tweet and issued out a correction very early on Wednesday morning, nearly three-and-a-half hours after it had published the mistake. “This tweet should have included more detail on the nominating process,” NBC News wrote in the first of two tweets correcting the record.
Still, Ocasio-Cortez responded by saying the original tweet from NBC News was irresponsible, adding that the correction was problematic as it was made at a time when most American users of the platform were likely already asleep.
“You waited several hours to correct your obvious and blatantly misleading tweet,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “It sparked an enormous amount of hatred and vitriol, & now the [misinformation] you created is circulating on other networks.
She further alleged the first tweet was made simply to “generate hate-clicks from a pre-recorded, routine procedural motion.”
The lawmaker added in a reply to her own tweet that the network’s actions were “completely unacceptable, disappointing, and appalling” since the Democratic Party had shared with news media what her remarks were meant to be — a procedural nomination for Sanders to count his delegates. “@NBC knew what was going to happen & that it was routine. How does a headline that malicious & misleading happen w/ that prior knowledge?” she added.
This is completely unacceptable, disappointing, and appalling.
The DNC shared the procedural purpose of my remarks to media WELL in advance. @NBC knew what was going to happen & that it was routine.
How does a headline that malicious & misleading happen w/ that prior knowledge?
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020
“So @NBCNews how are you going to fix the incredible amount of damage and misinformation that you are now responsible for? Because a 1:15am tweet to slip under the radar after blowing up a totally false and divisive narrative across networks isn’t it,” Ocasio-Cortez concluded in her remarks toward the network.
Ocasio-Cortez was an ardent supporter of Sanders during the Democratic Party’s caucus and primary contests earlier this year. However, after Sanders formally withdrew from the race, the congresswoman stated at several junctures, including during a livestream discussion on her Instagram account in April, that she would put her full support behind Biden in the general election.
“In November, I’m going to be voting for Joe Biden,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the time.
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