Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., landed a twofer of criticism on newsrooms this week, claiming the coverage of her appearance on the “Late Show” was both sexist and racist. The response from the national press, which is usually Johnny-on-the-spot with indignant replies to such media criticisms, has been a mixture of silence, indifference, and general agreement.
Host Stephen Colbert asked Ocasio-Cortez Monday whether she gives a “f-ck” about her senior Democratic colleagues who have urged her to wait her turn.
“On a scale from zero to some,” Colbert asked, “how many f-cks do you give?”
Politico describes what happened next: “Ocasio-Cortez reached to her side, as if rummaging through an imaginary bag, and pulled out her hand to make a circle. ‘I think it’s zero,’ she said to laughs and cheers from the crowd.”
Here’s how certain newsrooms characterized the event in their headlines:
- The Hill: “Ocasio-Cortez: I give “zero” f-cks about pushback from other Democrats.”
- Politico: “Ocasio-Cortez says she gives ‘zero’ f—s about pushback from Democrats.”
- The New York Post: “Ocasio-Cortez gives ‘zero’ f–ks about what other Democrats think.”
The coverage clearly went straight for what she emphasized. Yet the congresswoman was not happy Tuesday morning, claiming that the press had sneered not just at the fact that she’s a woman, but that she’s a Latina woman.
“I actually didn’t say this, so while I know ‘brown women cursing’ drives clicks, maybe you accurately quote the whole exchange instead of manipulating people into thinking I said this sentence instead of just the word ‘zero,’” she (or rather, her office) tweeted.
I actually didn’t say this, so while I know “brown women cursing” drives clicks, maybe you accurately quote the whole exchange instead of manipulating people into thinking I said this sentence instead of just the word “zero.” https://t.co/MrXIbALNP3
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 22, 2019
Her account continued, adding, “In a shock to no one, [Politico] is also running with the misattribution as well. Here’s what actually happened: I was asked a question on a late night show and answered with the word ‘zero.’ … This is how news hysteria develops out of nothing at all.”
“This reinforces lazy tropes about women leaders in media: Older [and] seasoned, but unlikeable; Passionate, but angry; Smart, but crazy; Well-intentioned, but naive; Attractive, but uninformed or gaffe-prone. It’s unoriginal, lazy, and men don’t get the same either/or coverage.”
She’s not wrong — those headlines did make it sound like the congresswoman actually used the F-word. There’s a better way that those could have been written. But the fact is, they made no technical error of attribution. Note that each one quoted the word “zero” and not the F-word. Not wrong, but also not great.
The funny thing here is that her reaction is exceptionally disproportionate to the supposed offense. Accusing the press of peddling racism, sexism, and news hysteria — it’s awfully reminiscent of a certain Republican president, who is also not wrong when he goes off against the press’ misleading or flat-out false reporting on his administration. One major difference is that newsrooms are soft on Ocasio-Cortez, who they say is the future of the Democratic Party, and they really don’t like President Trump. This leads to the most glaring inconsistency of all: Whereas the national media go full “I am Spartacus!” whenever the president has something nasty to say about them, they silently accept the abuse heaped on them by the congresswoman.
I know I’ve said most of this before, but it really bears repeating.
If the coverage appears to be misleading or unfair, Ocasio-Cortez will go after the responsible parties, even if it’s a trivial thing. And newsrooms usually take it with a smile. After all, she’s well-intentioned but naive — right? Or maybe it’s passionate but angry?
Whether she’s banning reporters from public events, characterizing legitimate news reporting as “birdcage lining,” or ridiculing press fact-checkers, the freshman congresswoman is here to keep the crooked media in check. That the insufferably self-righteous national press has so very little to say about it is one of the funniest things in American politics right now.
