Internet pounces on AOC as controversy on her 'accent' reignites over 2019 Al Shrapton Network video
WASHINGTON, DC: Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came under fire after a video of her speaking to Al Sharpton's National Action Network and employing an "accent" resurfaced. Ocasio-Cortez famously declared, with a humorous intonation, "I'm proud to be a bartender. Ain't nothing wrong with that" at a seminar hosted by the Rev Al Sharpton in 2019.
There is a new video of the incident that was edited with a more recent film of her speaking about Donald Trump without a strong accent. "AOC is a total fraud. This is her accent before and after," said the caption to the video, posted to the Twitter account End Wokeness. One of the critics from the right also criticized the Congresswoman of New York saying "She literally pulled a Hillary Clinton."
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How was her accent in the video?
AOC is a total fraud. This is her accent before and after: pic.twitter.com/d2BKs3RAmx
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 11, 2023
The older video was combined with a more recent one in which AOC adopted a new accent. Ocasio-Cortez gave a speech in 2019 at the National Action Network convention, which was hosted by Al Sharpton. She continued: "There's nothing wrong with working retail, folding clothes for other people to buy. There is nothing wrong with preparing the food that your neighbors will eat. There is nothing wrong with driving the buses that take your family to work."
'Politics might be the new Hollywood'
The internet rapidly reacted after the video went viral, with many slamming the representative. A user tweeted, "People, and ESPECIALLY Politicians change the tamber of their voice based on their comfortability with the crowd and the size of the crowd...this is nothing new." Another user wrote, "Seems like she took a page outta old Hill’s book of phony accents." "Code switching…" remarked one user. Another user penned, "@AOC is a fraud." One person wrote, "Now that’s southern charm! I mean: southern harm!" Another claimed, "Politics might be the new Hollywood . Politicians, the new actors/actresses ."
People, and ESPECIALLY Politicians change the tamber of their voice based on their comfortability with the crowd and the size of the crowd...this is nothing new.
— Showtime (@showtimehcky) April 11, 2023
Seems like she took a page outta old Hill’s book of phony accents.
— Mr.Kris Steel (@MrKrisSteel) April 11, 2023
Politics might be the new Hollywood . Politicians, the new actors/actresses .
— Rob Parker (@robdubparker) April 11, 2023
How did other critics react?
Ocasio-Cortez speaks in an accent that she never uses while telling a room of predominately black people that there is nothing wrong with them folding clothes, cooking, and driving other people around on a bus for a living. pic.twitter.com/FIbIAPokt0
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 5, 2019
She literally pulled a Hillary Clinton pic.twitter.com/4jt8g1B71W
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) April 5, 2019
"We've played a lot of clips of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she doesn't talk like that in a single one of them. That's fake, that what that is," Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson stated at the time, as reported by Daily Mail. Other critics from the right also ridiculed AOC for her new accent on Twitter. "I got five seconds into the video of AOC putting on an accent before cringing out," mentioned one critic. "Ocasio-Cortez speaks in an accent that she never uses while telling a room of predominately black people that there is nothing wrong with them folding clothes, cooking, and driving other people around on a bus for a living," said another person. He continued, "She literally pulled a Hillary Clinton," alluding to Clinton's propensity to adopt an accent while speaking to particular groups of people during her Senate race.
'I act & talk like it'
As per reports, Ocasio-Cortez was born and raised in the Bronx until she was five years old, at which point her family moved to Yorktown Heights in upstate Westchester County. She moved back to the Bronx after her graduation from Boston University in 2011.
As much as the right wants to distort & deflect, I am from the Bronx. I act & talk like it, *especially* when I’m fired up and especially when I’m home.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 5, 2019
It is so hurtful to see how every aspect of my life is weaponized against me, yet somehow asserted as false at the same time.
Days later, she had already attracted criticism and responded to claims that she was adopting an accent, insisting that it was completely genuine. "Folks talking about my voice can step right off," she said on Twitter. "Any kid who grew up in a distinct linguistic culture & had to learn to navigate class enviros at school/work knows what's up. My Spanish is the same way." "As much as the right wants to distort & deflect, I am from the Bronx. I act & talk like it, *especially* when I'm fired up and especially when I'm home. It is so hurtful to see how every aspect of my life is weaponized against me, yet somehow asserted as false at the same time," she added.
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.