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On the same day U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez faced — and defeated — a primary challenger, a fake tweet from the New York congresswoman went viral.
Actor James Woods was among those who shared a screenshot purporting to show a deleted Ocasio-Cortez tweet about keeping businesses closed to disrupt President Donald Trump’s reelection. She never tweeted that.
It looks like she did, though, in an image being shared on Facebook. “She deleted it but not before it was shared over 20,000 times,” reads a description of the tweet.
The tweet itself says: “It’s vital that Governors (sic) maintain restrictions on businesses until after the November Elections because economic recovery will help Trump be re-elected. A few business closures or job losses is a small price to pay to be free from his presidency. #KeepUsClosed.” The post in the image is dated May 20, 2020.
PolitiFact found no evidence that Ocasio-Cortez tweeted this. We rate this post Pants on Fire.
Click here to read the full fact-check.
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The Stanford History Education Group has plenty of tips for fact-checking coronavirus claims in its Civic Online Reasoning curriculum. Arguably the most powerful is using lateral reading to find out more about a source. If you see a suspect post, open new tabs and search for more information about who shared it. Check it out»
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Alex Mahadevan is a senior multimedia reporter at MediaWise. He can be reached at amahadevan@poynter.org or on Twitter at @AlexMahadevan. Follow MediaWise on TikTok.
