Fact check: Did Barron Trump and AOC have a showdown at the Senate? Truth behind viral videos
Viral posts falsely claim Barron Trump clashed with AOC at a Senate hearing. In reality, no such hearing occurred; the videos and quotes are fabricated.
A claim has gone viral that Barron Trump, President Donald Trump's youngest son, had a showdown at the US Senate with House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand Democrat from New York.
A fake report circulating on Facebook, along with videos, claims that AOC tried to "humiliate" Barron Trump during a US Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, but, instead, Barron Trump hit back at AOC over what appears to be some of the key talking point of the right wing's criticism of the New York US House Representatives.
Additionally, the fake reports also contained elaborate quotes from both Barron Trump and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's alleged exchange. They also claim that the exchange became so heated that Louisiana Senator John Neely Kennedy had to intervene and cool down the atmosphere.
However, needless to say, the news is fake and misleading. First of all, Barron Trump did not have a Senate hearing ever. The 19-year-old is reportedly studying at New York University and keeps a very low public profile, with the last documented appearance at Trump's January inauguration.
Here's the viral post.
Origin Of The Rumor And Other Details
The rumor about Barron Trump having a huge showdown with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seems to have originated on a parody news page on Facebook called Insight Wire. Garbed as a news report, and sometimes reproduced also as video reports, it claimed that AOC tried to humiliate Barron Trump at the Senate but he hit back the 36-year-old Rep.
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“Let me get this straight,” the report falsely quotes AOC as saying. We’re seriously allowing a homeschooled teenager who’s never had a real job, whose biggest legislative accomplishment is probably beating Fortnite on expert mode, to lecture career public servants about fiscal responsibility? Barron, honey, you’re out of your depth. This isn’t Mar-a-Lago. Some of us actually read the bills before we vote on them.”
To which Barron allegedly replies: “Congresswoman, "I may be new here… but at least I’ve never bankrupted a green-energy bus company that existed only because of government handouts. How many millions did your ‘visionary’ startup lose again before you discovered tending bar paid better?"
The report notes: “Republican senators lost their minds. Even Mitt Romney spat out his water. Ted Cruz slapped his desk so hard his microphone fell over. Democratic staffers in the back row looked like they’d just watched their 401(k) evaporate in real time.”
The bizarre and false claims went viral on social media, with hundreds of shares across various social media platforms.
