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A video of Ocasio-Cortez dancing in college is posted to smear her, but the internet finds it adorable

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), left, with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) on the opening day of the 116th Congress in Washington on Thursday.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), left, with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) on the opening day of the 116th Congress in Washington on Thursday.
(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)
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Washington Post

First it was a photo of long-haired Beto O’Rourke playing in a punk band. Now, it’s video of college-age Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing on a rooftop.

Both were circulated by the right to seemingly smear the progressive politicians. Both efforts backfired spectacularly.

The Ocasio-Cortez clip in question shows the future politician rocking some 1980s “Breakfast Club”-style dance moves with friends on a rooftop to Phoenix’s “Lisztomania.” The video, shot while Ocasio-Cortez was a student at Boston University, has bounced around the internet before, but it went viral Thursday.

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It first resurfaced on Twitter on Wednesday, the day before Ocasio-Cortez was sworn in as the youngest-ever female member of Congress. A Twitter user that affiliates itself with the far-right conspiracy theorist QAnon posted the video with the caption: “Here is America’s favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is...”

But if the point of releasing the video was to mock the young congresswoman, it elicited the exact opposite response on Twitter.

The freshman class of House Democrats is already making waves »

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Since Ocasio-Cortez burst onto the political scene with her surprise primary victory over incumbent Joseph Crowley, she has become a favorite punching bag for the right. They are offended by her politics — she’s a self-described democratic socialist — and her inexperience. They’ve attacked her clothes and that she maybe went by “Sandy” in high school.

But the attacks have often fallen flat. Ocasio-Cortez, 29, catapulted to celebrity-level fame in the past few months, buoyed by live, unfiltered social media videos. The right’s attacks target the things that make her popular: her fresh, unjaded view of what can be accomplished in Washington. Maybe it’s naive, but for many Americans, it feels refreshing.

It’s reminiscent of candidate Barack Obama. Remember those pictures of a young Obama smoking what looked like marijuana (though it could have been a cigarette)? They only added to his “cool” factor.

It’s hard to see the strategy in unearthing old photos or videos of politicians actually looking hip and fun in their youth.

On Friday, Ocasio-Cortez responded to the GOP criticism by dancing again.

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Itkowitz writes for the Washington Post. Kelcie Pegher contributed to this article.

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