Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) took to Twitter to celebrate her recent accomplishments in “League of Legends,” clarifying that sparring with “right-wing Twitter” was “child’s play” compared to the game’s often-toxic fanbase.
On Tuesday, the New York lawmaker tweeted that she had reached Silver III — a tier within “League of Legends” — calling it a “small quarantine accomplishment.”
The competitive online game where players choose from a variety of different “champions” to battle against one another and achieve objectives in an arena is split into nine tiers. Each tier represents the skill level of a player, with Silver ranking as the third tier.
In a reply, Ocasio-Cortez also revealed that “inting 13 year olds” had prepared her for dealing with the vitriol found within “right-wring Twitter.”
“Inting” is “League of Legends” slang for “intentionally feeding,” which means to purposefully sacrifice your character to put teammates at a disadvantage — a tactic sometimes used to get back at the many abusive players that fill the game’s community.
After she was prompted by followers, Ocasio-Cortez revealed her preferred game characters, highlighting the likes of Sona, Janna, Lux, Morgana and Lulu — all classified as either support or mage champions who heal and assist teammates or attack from afar.
“My role is to support the people,” Ocasio-Cortez said, adding that she has also dabbled with Soraka, another support character with a healing ability called “Wish,” which is described on the League of Legends website as: “Soraka fills her allies with hope, instantly restoring health to herself and all friendly champions.” Ocasio-Cortez called this ability the “Medicare for All of the game.”
Reactions to Ocasio-Cortez’s tweets ran the gamut from an esports company soliciting her for a “10-day contract” to others criticizing — and defending — the politician over her hobbies.
This is not the first occasion that Ocasio-Cortez has revealed her gaming habits — in November 2019, the lawmaker shared an Instagram Story celebrating reaching the “League of Legends” Silver IV rank. Ocasio-Cortez also drew attention in May when she revealed that she was enjoying the Nintendo game “Animal Crossing” during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.