Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the internet pressured her boyfriend into trimming his hair after he was called a “bin racoon” on social media following his appearance in Netflix’s documentary “Knock Down the House.”
“The internet roasted Riley into getting a haircut/glow up after #KnockDownTHeHouse,” Ocasio-Cortez posted on her Instagram story over the weekend.
“Knock Down the House,” which was released on May 1, featured four Democratic women running in the 2018 primary campaigns and included footage of Ocasio-Cortez’s boyfriend, Riley Roberts.
His appearance attracted scrutiny from social media users, including French feminist writer Marie Le Conte. “Apologies for the blatantly mean tweet but THIS is what AOC’s boyfriend looks like? incredible scenes, truly representing all the ambitious and stunning millenial women shackled to boyfriends who look like bin raccoons out there,” Conte tweeted.
Although Conte later deleted her tweet, she used the term “bin raccoon” again in response to the backlash she received for her original tweet.
“FINE, I’ve deleted my perfectly fine joke, the world breathes a sigh of relief as men with beards looking like braided pubes are no longer being discriminated against and ‘bin raccoon’ officially becomes beyond the pale, well done to all involved,” Conte said.
Her commentary of Roberts’ appearance caused some outrage and a series of jokes.
Ocasio-Cortez, 29, and Roberts, 30, first met while attending Boston University. They have been in relationship for several years and previously lived together in New York before Ocasio-Cortez won her race in the 2018 midterm election.
According to Ocasio-Cortez, the couple was looking forward to “lumberjack life” due to the rigorous schedule on the campaign trail. “We were so ready for lumberjack life after months of 18 hour days that neither one of us had gotten a haircut in months,” she said in a tweet.
