Skip to main content
  • Online media
  • Tariffs
  • Epstein
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS
  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Media Matters for America

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Media Matters for America

  • Nav
  • Search
  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives
  • Online media
  • Tariffs
  • Epstein
  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS
aoc-the-breakfast-club-trump-tweets-white-supremacist-threats-02-25-2020.jpg

Rep. Ocasio-Cortez says Fox News' and Trump's obsessions with her have led to white supremacist threats

Written by Eric Kleefeld

Published 02/26/20 3:58 PM EST

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Tuesday that Fox News’ relentless coverage of her — and President Donald Trump’s resulting Twitter flames against her — have contributed to online threats against her safety.

During an appearance Tuesday on New York-based radio show The Breakfast Club, the hosts asked the representative about a Trump tweet from this past October, in which the president called her “a Wack Job!” (At the time, Ocasio-Cortez responded with a tweet of her own: “Better than being a criminal who betrays our country.”)

Ocasio-Cortez said she had not been surprised by Trump’s tweet: “I felt it coming, because a) He’s obsessed with television, and so he responds to things that he sees on television. And because I’m on Fox News, like, all the time, it felt like it was kind of a matter of time.

“But also, he doesn’t like attention not being on him. So if attention’s on anyone else — if it’s on Adam Schiff, it’s on Nancy Pelosi, if it’s on Colin Kaepernick, he’s going to try to find a way to reel that back into himself. … He’s a narcissist, but he is good at it.”

Video file

Citation

From February 25, 2020, edition of iHeartRadio’s The Breakfast Club

Show co-host Charlamagne tha God responded: “I don’t know if I blame the media for that or him.”

“It’s both. It’s like an addictive, unhealthy relationship that they have,” Ocasio-Cortez answered. “They can’t stop covering him, and he can’t stop consuming it.”

“Isn’t that dangerous for you, though?” Charlamange added. “Like, being AOC, when you have the president calling you a wack job, people coming at you, isn’t that dangerous?

“It’s very dangerous. It’s very dangerous. Yeah, I mean, I had a point last year where I would wake up in the morning, and I’d look at pictures of people who were trying to harm me that day. Like, over my breakfast, you know? And it’s — and a lot of times, it was white supremacists. And it’s very real — like, it’s very, very real, and it’s very scary. And that’s why I think when people, like especially on the far right, they’re like, ‘Oh, this is an attention thing’ — it’s like, I am not doing this for my health.”

Indeed, Ocasio-Cortez has long been a subject of obsession over at Fox. Media Matters previously found that in a 42-day period in early 2019, Fox News and Fox Business mentioned the freshman lawmaker at least 3,181 times — variously describing her as a “totalitarian,” “ignorant,” and “scary,” and saying she was waging a “war on cows.”

Moreover, at Fox News’ corporate sister publication, the New York Post, reporter Jon Levine published 11 posts about the congresswoman just this past weekend alone, as part of a series called “The AOC Tapes,” focusing on such things as Ocasio-Cortez eating a sandwich, criticizing Fox News, and singing in the car during a road trip.

The Latest

  1. Ben Shapiro: “The FCC should not be pressuring, because of political content, various outlets to stop the dissemination of speech”

    Video & Audio 09/25/25 2:14 PM EDT

  2. CNN reports on a mother whose deportation split up their family: “She had a legal U.S. work permit, no criminal record, paid taxes, never missed an ICE check-in”

    Video & Audio 09/25/25 1:52 PM EDT

  3. Far-right streamer Nick Fuentes on Trump’s new H-1B visa fees: “They just lied. ... Howard Lutnick is a clown and frankly so is Trump.”

    Video & Audio 09/25/25 1:20 PM EDT

  4. Fox News chief political analyst: Trump “had almost a man crush on Vladimir Putin”

    Video & Audio 09/25/25 1:12 PM EDT

  5. On The Joy Reid Show, Angelo Carusone discusses media consolidation and news outlets standing up to threats to free speech

    Video & Audio 09/25/25 1:03 PM EDT

Pagination

  • Previous page ‹‹
  • …
  • Current page 55
  • …
  • Next page ››

In This Article

  • Fox News

    Fox-News-MMFA-Tag.png
  • Donald Trump

    Donald-Trump-MMFA-Tag.png

Related

  1. Fox News figures called price gouging investigations “communist.” Network figures are now praising Trump for proposing the same thing for meatpackers.

    Research/Study 11/10/25 4:34 PM EST

  2. Fox host Charles Payne on Trump's plan for a 50-year mortgage: “I do not like this idea”

    Video & Audio 11/10/25 11:07 AM EST

  3. Right-wing media escalate attacks on young women voters following Democratic election wins across the country

    Research/Study 11/07/25 8:57 PM EST

Media Matters for America

Sign up for email updates
  • About
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • RSS

© 2025 Media Matters for America

RSS