Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, criticized for college dance video, responds with more dancing

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's name has been on the mouths of many since her election, most recently because of a nearly decade-old video of her dancing as a student at Boston University.

The video was shared across Twitter on Wednesday. It showed Ocasio-Cortez dancing on the roof of a building at BU as part of an internet trend at the time in which people would recreate scenes from popular 1980s movies.



"Here is America's favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is," read a widely circulated tweet from user AnonymousQ1776, who described the clip as a video from her high school days.

Numerous Twitter users came to Ocasio-Cortez's defense, with some drawing comparisons to arguments that then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh should not be judged for past behavior while Ocasio-Cortez should. Some also said the video made her more relatable.

The freshman representative responded to critics Friday by releasing another dancing video.



"I hear the GOP thinks women dancing are scandalous. Wait till they find out Congresswomen dance too! Have a great weekend everyone," she tweeted, with a video of her dancing outside her new office on Capitol Hill.

In just hours, the tweet became Ocasio-Cortez's most retweeted tweet ever and garnered millions of views.

The day after the original video resurfaced, Ocasio-Cortez was sworn in as the youngest woman in Congress. A woman has also created a parody account that tweets out videos of Ocasio-Cortez dancing to dozens of other popular songs.

Ocasio-Cortez has used social media throughout her campaign and since being elected to craft her brand of politics and communicate with constituents like never before: She's been known to talk policy while cooking with her Instant Pot.



She's also wielded the power of the Twitter quill to hit back against critics.

When a Washington Examiner reporter posted a photo critical of her clothing and referring to her as a "girl," widespread outrage plus Ocasio-Cortez's response caused him to delete the tweet.



"Dark hates light - that's why you tune it out," she posted in response to that tweet about her clothes. "Shine bright + keep it pushing."

A similar fate befell the person who originally tweeted out the dancing video: It appears that @AnonymousQ1776 has deleted their account.

CNN contributed to this report.