Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has elevated her profile as a freshman lawmaker with remarkable speed, but she credits part of that to Fox News.
In a Saturday tweet, the congresswoman mocked the outlet as “AOC TMZ,” pointing to its relentless coverage of her as “the reason people know more.”
Ocasio-Cortez also gave a shout out to New Yorker journalist Jane Mayer, who reported an exposé on the network earlier this month revealing its cozy relationship with President Donald Trump’s White House.
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks were in response to writer Josh Jordan’s tweet sharing a Gallup poll which he declared indicated she was “underwater with every demographic group” other than women, minorities and younger voters.
Jordan, who has bylines in right-leaning outlets like the National Review and RealClearPolitics, was swiftly rebuked by the congresswoman for what she saw as his implication that “older, conservative white men are considered ‘everyone.’”
When it comes to Fox News’ fixation on Ocasio-Cortez, the lawmaker isn’t wrong.
In February, a Media Matters for America report indicated the network had mentioned her name more than four times as much as it had mentioned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Furthermore, during the outlets prime time weeknight shows, an average of roughly 20 to 35 minutes was spent per program on Ocasio-Cortez. That’s nearly half of the three-hour window from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.