Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the "Squad" and a Democrat from New York, has faced fierce criticism online after a video of her infamous "accent" at the Rev.
Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention resurfaced.
The congresswoman, who is a Democratic socialist, had been responding to criticism from those who had tried to delegitimize her as a lawmaker because of her past employment as a bartender.
The footage of her speech, which attracted criticism in 2019, recently made the rounds on the internet again when the Twitter account End Wokeness re-posted it along with a recent video of Ocasio-Cortez speaking without the accent. The video cuts between the two, highlighting the differences in her speech. End Wokeness labeled Ocasio-Cortez as a "total fraud" and pointed out her accent before and after. Other Twitter users reacted to the video, with some defending the congresswoman and others joining in the criticism.
In her defense, Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to explain that she talks differently when she is "fired up" and that she is from the Bronx, implying that her accent is a product of her background. The congresswoman added that it is hurtful to see every aspect of her life weaponized against her while being asserted as false at the same time.
This is not the first time that Ocasio-Cortez's way of speaking has come under scrutiny. The audience-specific dialect change by politicians, which some suggest is often coded, has been a recurring concern for some individuals. Despite Fox News Digital reaching out to Ocasio-Cortez's office for comment on the video, there has been no response so far.
Ocasio-Cortez's speech at the National Action Network convention in 2019, which first made news for the accent, was likened to that of the failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who also appeared to change her dialect depending on the audience on the campaign trail.
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