AOC Calls Out ‘False And Divisive Narrative’ In DNC Coverage of Bernie Nomination
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke out Wednesday morning to address the coverage of the Democratic National Convention. Specifically, coverage of her nomination of Bernie Sanders gave the false impression that she was attempting to divide the party and opposing Joe Biden as a candidate. In fact, she was asked to endorse Sanders as a candidate, because he did get votes in the primary, and AOC was following procedural standards.
NBC tweeted Tuesday evening to describe Ocasio-Cortez speaking for Bernie Sanders. “In one of the shortest speeches of the DNC, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez did not endorse Joe Biden.”
They weren’t the only network to report on her nomination. Vox, for instance, immediately followed their initial tweet, about AOC using her time “to make a bold call for systemic change,” with an explanation about procedure.
To be clear, @AOC's speech was not an endorsement of Bernie Sanders in some ongoing contest with Biden, but rather part of standard practice at the #DemConvention.
Any candidate that’s secured enough delegates is eligible to get “nominated” to the party’s ticket.
— Vox (@voxdotcom) August 19, 2020
Fox News‘s Brian Kilmeade described this as “one of the biggest stories” and as AOC “endorsing” Bernie.
Brian Kilmeade thinks that "one of the biggest stories" out of the DNC is AOC "endorsing Bernie Sanders in … a hostage video," claiming that the procedural motion for any candidate with a certain number of delegates is *really* the far-left trying to take over Biden's agenda. pic.twitter.com/BMiNMDs7UA
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) August 19, 2020
Ocasio-Cortez explained the procedural rule on her own social media pages Tuesday night, noting that a nomination is required for every candidate that gets enough delegates, and that she was asked to participate by speaking to second the nomination for Sanders.
If you were confused, no worries!
Convention rules require roll call & nominations for every candidate that passes the delegate threshold.
I was asked to 2nd the nom for Sen. Sanders for roll call.
I extend my deepest congratulations to @JoeBiden – let’s go win in November. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/uI92P3UfLn
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020
NBC apologized for their error and issued a correction.
Editor's note and clarification (2/2):
Ocasio-Cortez was asked by the DNC to second Sanders' nomination. The nomination is a procedural requirement of the convention.
Ocasio-Cortez has previously endorsed Biden, & her speech was similar in length to other nominating speeches.
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 19, 2020
However, AOC called them out for waiting hours to issue a correction, for being “blatantly misleading,” and for the vitriol this sparked across other networks and social media. She also noted that the network had information in advance and knew what to expect and why.
This is completely unacceptable, disappointing, and appalling.
The DNC shared the procedural purpose of my remarks to media WELL in advance. @NBC knew what was going to happen & that it was routine.
How does a headline that malicious & misleading happen w/ that prior knowledge?
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020
So @NBCNews how are you going to fix the incredible amount of damage and misinformation that you are now responsible for?
Because a 1:15am tweet to slip under the radar after blowing up a totally false and divisive narrative across networks isn’t it. https://t.co/zf6Wqiotvv
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 19, 2020
She described the correcting tweet as an attempt to “slip under the radar” and asked the network for corrective action.