A legion of people online came to the defense of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday after a small contingent of Internet dwellers tried to use a video of her dancing on a rooftop in a Boston University shirt as a means to discredit her.
The short video was making the rounds on social media Thursday in high volume, the same day Ocasio-Cortez, 29, was officially sworn into Congress.
But the clip that was shared was edited down to just 30 seconds, and doesn’t exactly tell the whole story — plus the claim that it shows Ocasio-Cortez during her high school days isn’t true.
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The full, original video was actually filmed in 2010 at BU, according to the school’s website, and was an homage to a popular YouTube trend that was sweeping the nation at the time, called the “Brat Pack Mashup.”
Ocasio-Cortez graduated from Boston University’s College of Arts & Sciences in 2011, with a degree in economics and international relations.
According to BU Today, the school’s website for campus news, Ocasio-Cortez — who went by the nickname Sandy, the end credits show — was part of a diverse group of student dancers who participated in the making of the video.
The four-minute montage of students in BU gear is a riff on dance scenes from the popular 1980s films that featured the so-called “Brat Pack,” such as “The Breakfast Club.”
The “high-spirited music video,” in BU Today’s words, includes shots of Boston’s skyline, the school’s mascot, and is set to the hit song “Lisztomania” by the group Phoenix.
For her part, Ocasio-Cortez is shown with a beaming smile on her face as she twirls around on the rooftop of the College of Arts & Sciences with her fellow classmates.
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“The BU ‘Lisztomania’ Brat Pack Mashup was the brainchild of Raúl Fernandez (COM ’00), assistant director of the Howard Thurman Center, BU’s multicultural center,” according to BU Today at the time.
Fernandez said at the time that he wanted to make the short, peppy film to “bring people together.”
While a few people tried to use the video as a means to mock the congresswoman, many others came to her defense on Twitter.
Pro tip: if you think this video is in any way a negative for ACO then don’t ever tweet about her again. https://t.co/vC00BoNizv
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) January 3, 2019
Well, @AOC is officially done. She’ll never recover from the world seeing her...
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) January 3, 2019
(watches video)
...dancing adorably and having fun with her friends in high school? https://t.co/0zENCzBinA
BREAKING extremely damaging video has just been released and it's... wait, I'm sorry, it's just @AOC dancing around. This is fine; please excuse the interruption. https://t.co/SJ7d9vTmN7
— Danielle (@daniellegee) January 3, 2019
IMO this video of @AOC, that was recently dug-up of her dancing in a music video in college, will just add to what supporters like about her.https://t.co/LaUZZNabNh
— Miranda Green (@mirandacgreen) January 3, 2019
More videos of congresspeople dancing! I demand another and they have to be just as good as Ocasio-Cortez. Go! Bring them to me! pic.twitter.com/JFlSV5ieav
— Jeremy Whitley (@jrome58) January 3, 2019
In a decent America, that video of Ocasio-Cortez dancing in high school would inspire other politicians to release videos of themselves dancing in high school.
— Joe Fourhman (@fourhman) January 3, 2019
"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was DANCING?!?!!" pic.twitter.com/d9adgbtfY8
— Hi, I’m Derek. (@CapSteveRogers) January 3, 2019
For those keeping track- the damning videos of democrats that have been released in the last few months- @BetoORourke on a skateboard, and @AOC dancing doing a fun goofy dance in high school.
— Tyler Gordon (@DangerGordon) January 3, 2019
How well they ever recover from looking so cool and relatable?
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.