The brother of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) posted two TikToks Tuesday to fire back at false accusations that he trafficked fentanyl.
The allegations gained steam after TikTok user @Mamawendi4 posted a video spreading the (fake) news that federal authorities charged Matthew Ocasio-Cortez with criminal conspiracy and trafficking a controlled substance after the U.S. Coast Guard found him on a speedboat in Lake Superior.
The problem? The rumors originated on a notorious satire site. And Ocasio-Cortez’s brother lives in New York, hasn’t been arrested, and isn’t even named Matthew.
Gabriel Ocasio-Cortez—his real name—responded with a TikTok video of his own that has now racked up more than 3.7 million views.
@gabrielocasiocortez #stitch with @Mamawendi4 ♬ Break My Stride – Matthew Wilder
“I’m the brother. My name’s not Matthew. I have no idea why they’re posting this,” he said to the camera. “I have nothing to do with this story, which isn’t real.”
As his post made the rounds, @Mamawendi4 deleted the original video and appeared to delete her account entirely, although a new profile with the same username can be found on TikTok as of Wednesday morning.
The false claims about AOC’s brother’s fentanyl arrest stem from an article on the Dunning-Kruger Times, which is part of the satire network “America’s Last Line of Defense” (ALLOD). The ALLOD name is a dig at people like @Mamawendi4 and others who believe its stories, which often mirror genuine right-wing propaganda.
“Everything on this website is fiction,” a disclaimer on the Dunning-Kruger Times reads. “It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe it is real, you should have your head examined.”
An ALLOD Facebook post on the satirical story has been shared 885 times. While many of the comments poked fun at the satire, others seemed to take the story seriously.
“And AOC can stand up and call Trump a criminal,” one commenter wrote. “Hypocrisy much?”
Ocasio-Cortez posted a follow-up to his first video calling out the scourge of misinformation in American politics, though he did not mention the satire network by name.
@gabrielocasiocortez #stitch with @Mamawendi4 ♬ Break My Stride – Matthew Wilder
In the post, he imagined the dangers of a scenario in which just 1% of people who view a viral video like Mamawendi4’s believe it, and 0.5% “really really buy into it.”
“That’s all it takes to start to get somebody that’s a little bit radicalized, somebody that’s willing to pick up their guns and go do something. And it wouldn’t be the first time somebody’s tried,” Ocasio-Cortez warned. “That’s the society that we’re in, so things like this are just more serious than ever, and you can’t slander people.”
Nearly 125,000 people have viewed the latest video, with the vast majority of commenters expressing support and gratitude for AOC’s now-sort-of-famous brother.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
