Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Calls Out the Daily Caller For Story on Fake Photo of Her Feet
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fired back at conservative website The Daily Caller for a story on a fake photo of her feet that was widely criticized.
The Caller story — written by Betsy Rothstein and bearing the headline “HERE’S THE PHOTO SOME PEOPLE DESCRIBED AS A NUDE SELFIE OF ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ” — reports on a photo circulating online that purported to show the freshman congresswoman’s feet in a bathtub.
The photo had already been debunked, however, and did not show the New York Democrat. While the body of the Daily Caller piece made clear the photo was fake, the choice of headline, very obviously, sparked outrage.
i know nothing shocks us anymore but this is truly abhorrent media behavior re: a sitting member of congress. pic.twitter.com/WpYgYci8RQ
— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) January 9, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez, never one to shy away from a Twitter spat, responded: “GOP have been losing their mind + frothing at the mouth all week, so this was just a matter of time,” she wrote. “Women in leadership face more scrutiny. Period.”
“For those out of the loop, Republicans began to circulate a fake nude photo of me,” she explained. “The @DailyCaller reposted it (!) and refused to indicate it was fake in the title as well.”
“Completely disgusting behavior from Conservative outlets,” she added. “No wonder they defended Kavanaugh so fiercely.”
For those out of the loop, Republicans began to circulate a fake nude photo of me. The @DailyCaller reposted it (!) and refused to indicate it was fake in the title as well.
Completely disgusting behavior from Conservative outlets.
No wonder they defended Kavanaugh so fiercely.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 10, 2019
After deleting the tweet and changing the headline, The Daily Caller responded to Ocasio-Cortez with a defense. “As soon as editors noticed the Twitter headline, we rapidly had it deleted and fixed,” their official account wrote. “The story itself is otherwise no different than what HuffPo and Vice published.”
“We regret the error, as the intent was to inform our audience that a fake image was circulating online,” they added.
As soon as editors noticed the twitter headline, we rapidly had it deleted and fixed. The story itself is otherwise no different than what HuffPo and Vice published.
We regret the error, as the intent was to inform our audience that a fake image was circulating online. https://t.co/aClyRLnjQZ
— The Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 10, 2019
Both Vice and HuffPost wrote stories about the fake photo, though their headlines were a dash more responsible (Vice: “A Fake Nude of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Was Debunked By Foot Fetishists”).
It’s unclear what the Daily Caller means by “twitter headline,” as their post had the same headline on Twitter and its website. The headline has since been updated (It’s now “ANTHONY WEINER MISTRESS STANDS UP FOR AOC AFTER EVIL INTERNET TROLLS SPREAD FAKE NUDE PHOTO”) but the initial headline is still available thanks to website archives:
When reached for comment, Daily Caller editor Geoffrey Ingersoll told Mediaite: “I had the headline corrected and updated early in the day, as soon as I noticed it. Obviously an eager editor made a misjudgment as to the framing.”
“I had no idea screencaps were circulating until Ocasio-Cortez tweeted one,” he added.
