AOC

Wore a $35,000 Met Gala gown with 'Tax the Rich' written on it — tickets cost $35,000 each

AOC attended the 2021 Met Gala wearing a white gown with 'TAX THE RICH' painted on the back. The event's tickets cost $35,000 each. She posed for photos with wealthy celebrities and donors.

Pushed to defund the police — then requested more police funding for her own district

"No more policing, incarceration, and militarization."

AOC was a prominent 'defund the police' advocate in 2020. In 2021 she requested $5 million in funding for a police precinct in her district through a federal appropriations request.

Accused Republicans of 'manufacturing crises' at the border — after spending years saying there was no crisis

In 2019 AOC insisted the situation at the border was not a crisis and accused the Trump administration of manufacturing one. By 2021 she acknowledged the border situation had become a crisis under Biden.

Fled Texas during its winter storm freeze — while criticizing Ted Cruz for doing the same thing to Cancun

AOC was widely photographed in Miami Beach during a February 2021 cold snap in New York — just days after she had blasted Ted Cruz for flying to Cancun during Texas's deadly winter storm. She defended the trips as different.

Claimed she was 'nearly killed' and 'thought she was going to die' on January 6 — she was in a different building

"I thought I was going to die."

AOC gave an emotional Instagram Live account claiming she thought she was going to die on January 6. It later emerged she was in the Cannon Office Building — not the Capitol — which was not breached. Her Republican colleague pointed this out publicly.

Said capitalism is 'irredeemable' — has a net worth estimated at over $1 million and uses Venmo for payments

"Capitalism is an ideology of capital — the most important thing is the concentration of capital and to seek profit… I do think that it is irredeemable."

AOC has repeatedly condemned capitalism as irredeemable. She has a reported net worth of over $1 million, employs a staff, uses Venmo for transactions, and operates within a capitalist system to fund her campaigns.

Opposed Amazon HQ2 coming to New York — killing 25,000 jobs and billions in tax revenue for her constituents

"Amazon does not deserve — does not need — and should not get special treatment."

AOC led the opposition to Amazon's planned HQ2 in Long Island City in 2019. Amazon pulled out. The project would have brought an estimated 25,000 jobs and $27 billion in tax revenue to New York.

Said her Green New Deal would eliminate air travel — then flew cross-country repeatedly

"We set a goal to get to net-zero, rather than zero emissions, in 10 years because we aren't sure that we'll be able to get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast."

AOC's FAQ for the Green New Deal called for eliminating air travel where possible. FEC filings showed her campaign spent over $29,000 on air travel and car services during her 2018 campaign.

Said the world will end in 12 years if we don't address climate change

"The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change."

AOC made this claim at a Martin Luther King Day event in January 2019. When later pressed, she said it was 'dry humor' and 'sarcasm.' The comment had been widely cited as a serious policy statement.

Called for abolishing ICE — then voted against the bill to abolish ICE

"Abolish ICE."

AOC spent 2018 calling loudly for abolishing ICE. When Republicans called her bluff and brought a bill to the floor, she voted present — effectively opposing it — calling it a Republican 'stunt.'

Said unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs — that's not how unemployment works

"Unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs."

AOC said this on PBS Firing Line in 2018 when asked why unemployment was low under capitalism. Economists immediately noted this is not how unemployment statistics work — holding two jobs counts as one employed person.

Campaigned on being a working-class bartender — her childhood home was in an affluent Westchester suburb

"I'm the daughter of a working-class family."

AOC's campaign narrative centered on growing up working-class in the Bronx. Reporting revealed her family moved to Yorktown Heights in Westchester County — an affluent suburb — when she was five, and she attended school there.