‘A celebration this July 4th but of what & for whom?’ Gabriel Ocasio-Cortez wrote in the caption of a shirtless photo on a boat
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D., N.Y.), brother, Gabriel, posted a series of shirtless photos taken on a boat on Lake Como. In an accompanying caption, he railed against July 4th celebrations and praised socialist New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani.
“America… Jesus, Christ,” he wrote on Monday. “A celebration this July 4th but of what & for whom? What a time to be asleep. Collectively, have we failed our way into modern authoritarianism… Failed by our own lack of interest in compassion and civics, in equal measure?”
Ocasio-Cortez took aim at those who criticize the United States for social media attention without getting involved in politics themselves in the caption of photos of himself shirtless on a boat.
“Many folks had something to say on the 4th, but what about the days that follow?” he asked. “Modern hissing into the ether for unconscious likes with no tangible call for actions, just disdain. Merely wrath for clout’s sake.”
Ocasio-Cortez asked, “why is Zohran the first real grassroots shakeup in 7~ years? What about you,” and pondered whether “becoming an elected official” is “the inevitable next step in the ‘influencer’ cycle.”
He also called on his followers to evaluate the accounts their friends and family follow, implying that the act of following someone “harmful” is cause for ending a relationship and can be a “reclamation of your social power.”
“And if it is, as devoid of any god & as gothic as it may be, are we going to keep treating ‘following’ as inconsequentially as we do?” Ocasio-Cortez asked. “Are we going to act like some of your closest friends & family online aren’t following people that co-sign objectively harmful ideas & politics by being a follower themselves?”
He eventually changed the location on the post from “Tremezzo Lago Di Como” to “Northern Italy” after commenters mocked him.
“I’m on vacation—I own no lake house,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in response to one comment. Replying to another who wrote, “Trashing USA while on a luxury European vacation in Lake Como… that’s NYC socialists for ya,” he said, “the boat rental cost me €70. You don’t have to be a millionaire to leave the house.”
“What’s luxury about a cheap Airbnb?” Ocasio-Cortez responded to one Instagram user who commented on his post. “I’m waiting.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s sister made her own Fourth of July post, writing, “Freedom from Kings. Freedom from fascism. Power to the people forever. Happy Independence Day.”
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