Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a habit of attracting MAGA kooks. If being stalked by Marjorie Taylor Greene at every turn through the halls of Congress weren’t enough, now she has Tina Forte to contend with—yet another bleached-blonde Republican whose only real interest in politics seems to be in taking AOC down.
Forte, who would be a shoo-in to be part of the cast if Jersey Shore did a reboot for 50-somethings, has made no secret of her disdain for AOC, as her campaign video, which you can watch below, makes clear. (It’s a gem.) But Raw Story is reporting that there are a few far more disturbing things that video doesn’t show, which Snopes dug up on the congressional wannabe. Specifically: That in addition to pushing a number of QAnon theories, and regularly posing with Proud Boys, Forte both promoted and attended the “Save America” rally in Washington, D.C. on January 6—the event that led to the insurrection at the Capitol.
According to Snopes:
We found Forte repeatedly used hashtags related to QAnon conspiracy theories. The QAnon mentions even included cries of “Save the Children,” referring to the debunked conspiracy theory that makes claims of mass pedophilia and “Satanic blood-drinking” by Democrats. She took multiple photographs in October, November, and December 2020 with far-right Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio. Further, we uncovered evidence that Forte pushed false election conspiracy theories, including the phrase “Stop the Steal.”
Forte’s accounts that pushed potentially dangerous content were still active months later on Facebook, Instagram (which is owned by Facebook), Twitter, and YouTube. Even more striking was the fact that Forte herself attended the Capitol riot, where she livestreamed on Facebook. She took selfies with a number of attendees who considered her a “superstar.” In a live video, she urged people at then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s rally on the Ellipse to make their way to the Capitol. We even found that she entered a restricted area after the crowd knocked down barriers that law enforcement installed. All of her posts promoting the date in the weeks before Jan. 6 appeared to reach at least tens of thousands of people, but likely many more.
Forte live-streamed her visit to our nation’s capital, and the Capitol, via Facebook Live, where she urged her viewers to “Get your asses to the Capitol,” adding that, “We need to fight for our freedom, fight for our country, fight for our president, fight for our Constitution.”
Snopes reached out to Forte’s team for comment about their report—which goes much, much deeper—but so far has not received a response. You can view the full report here.
(Via Raw Story)