In a battle between social media superstars, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, saying he had his part in fueling the January 6 riot in Capitol Hill.
“He’s part of this problem,” the Democrat said Friday during an online town hall meeting with Bronx and Queens voters. “And Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are partly responsible for Wednesday’s events, period.”
The social media mogul, she said, has pampered white supremacist groups on Facebook – and even, she accused, she attended “dinner parties with white supremacist sympathizers.”
“They specifically handled this kind of radicalization differently, that is, with children’s gloves,” AOC said, noting its controversial exchange with Zuckerberg at a 2019 congressional hearing.
“I specifically asked him about disinformation related to the election … and the connection between that disinformation and white supremacist ties,” she said. “We saw for a long time what was to come.”
Ocasio-Cortez has claimed for months that the use of Facebook from the conservative news outlet the Daily Caller in its fact-checking efforts is evidence of Zuckerberg’s sympathy for white supremacists.
“There’s a really clear link here,” she insisted on Friday.
The Daily Caller has dismissed Ocasio-Cortez’s allegations, calling them “insulting.”
“They are currently doing as much harm reduction as possible,” AOC said Friday, noting Facebook’s decision to revoke President Trump’s access to the platform in the wake of last week’s violence.
“But they knew,” she said. “And they not only knew, but they allowed it.”