Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has repeatedly claimed that she won’t accept funds from lobbyists. Campaign finance records, however, show she has received nearly 100 separate donations from registered lobbyists since taking office.
Ocasio-Cortez’s account description on X states that the congresswoman is “people-funded” and “takes no lobbyist [cash],” using a money bag emoji in place of the word “cash.” Despite her claim to the contrary, the representative has taken thousands of dollars in contributions from lobbyists since assuming office, according to federal records.
The congresswoman has an extensive record decrying the influence of money on politics. In 2018, shortly after winning office for the first time, Ocasio-Cortez criticized her party’s “refusal to reject [corporate] lobbyist money.” Since then, she has called to ban members of Congress from working as lobbyists after leaving office, rebuked fellow Democrats for their close ties to lobbyists, and accused lobbyists of working to kill legislation that would benefit the public.
While Ocasio-Cortez has harsh words for lobbyists, she has accepted donations from them every year since she first took office in 2018.