Now that Trump is gone, fake news doesn’t pay the bills but Reuters may have found a way to make up some of that revenue loss. The wire service spent yesterday tweeting over and over again about how dingbat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a merchandise store and tried to pass it off as newsworthy. The only possible explanation for this is that Reuters is getting a cut of the profits by promoting AOC’s shitty merch.
Things started off innocently enough:
Branding the U.S. left: AOC makes a push into political merchandise https://t.co/UiejxCUdeF pic.twitter.com/EiI3EnWiFQ
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
Then it got repetitive:
Branding the U.S. left: AOC makes a push into political merchandise https://t.co/dKYbzJtgqz pic.twitter.com/60kVo99BI6
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
Plus a thread:
👕 AOC is now selling merchandise
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become one of America’s most prominent progressive Democrats with her calls to tax the wealthy and spend heavily to fight climate change https://t.co/aw8GSyEQhB 1/5 pic.twitter.com/7MbXqdYFgo
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
📢 ’Tax the Rich’ 📢 ‘Fight for our Future’
Now she is investing heavily in her online store, selling merchandise with her name, initials and slogans as a fundraising effort and profile-building exercise 2/5 pic.twitter.com/jiWngtO4FJ
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
💰 Her campaign paid a political merchandise firm more than $1.4 million in the first six months of 2021, according to campaign disclosures to the Federal Election Commission.
That’s more than many lawmakers spent on their entire re-election efforts during the period 3/5 pic.twitter.com/YbctYfMlkG
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
While she has no formal party leadership role, AOC has star power rarely seen in Congress.
📱She has more than 8 million Instagram followers
📹She shot a video for Vogue detailing her personal skincare routine.Her online store capitalizes on her fame, experts said 4/5 pic.twitter.com/T29wZxRxOT
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
Then it got kind of spammy:
Her campaign has raised about $6.9 million since the November election, compared to $10.8 million by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and $23.9 million by Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer 5/5
Read more https://t.co/uoO8UYKaUU
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
⚡️ AOC breaks into the merchandise market https://t.co/k3b4iny1g4
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
⚡️ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is investing heavily in her online store, selling T-shirts, sweatshirts and other merchandisehttps://t.co/k3b4iny1g4
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
⚡️ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez breaks into the merchandise market https://t.co/k3b4iny1g4
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
⚡️ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is investing heavily in her online store, selling merchandise with her name, initials and slogans as a fundraising effort and profile-building exercise https://t.co/k3b4iny1g4
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 19, 2021
Wait, does AOC have an online store? This is the first I’ve heard of this.
Reuters wouldn’t touch the Hunter Biden laptop story with a ten-foot fake news pole, but they sent 11 tweets promoting AOC’s merch store. Is it any wonder people don’t trust the media?
This story takes a funny turn because former White House press secretary Sean Spicer chimed in:
using capitalism to push socialism
Branding the U.S. left: @AOC makes a push into political merchandisehttps://t.co/ZgyI18ksHq
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) July 19, 2021
Because of her ego and status as a perpetual victim, AOC hit back in a dumb way:
Not sure if you know this Sean, but transactions aren’t capitalism.
Capitalism is a system that prioritizes profit at any & all human/enviro cost.
But fwiw our shop is unionized, doesn’t operate for profit,& funds projects like free tutoring, food programs,& local organizing.🌱 https://t.co/RPnMlg0mpS
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 19, 2021
Is it weird that someone with a degree in economics has no idea what capitalism is? According to the heavily-promoted Reuters article, she is using the profits from the merch sales to finance her reelection campaign. In addition, she pays a for-profit company to make this merchandise. There’s certainly a lot more capitalism going on here than she cares to admit.
