Conservative conspiracy blogger Jim Hoft, better known as “The Gateway Pundit,” is being mocked widely for a weekend tweet touting the breathtaking “EXCLUSIVE” that pioneering Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was once known by the name “Sandy.” Like, even in college. And there’s VIDEO.

On Sunday night, Hoft tweeted out his big scoop, “EXCLUSIVE: Yorktown Elitist and Bronx Hoaxer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Went by “Sandy” Well into College at Boston U (VIDEO),” and spent the rest of the night/early morning getting ratioed within an inch of his life.

EXCLUSIVE: Yorktown Elitist and Bronx Hoaxer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Went by “Sandy” Well into College at Boston U (VIDEO) https://t.co/NF32H00uqJ via @gatewaypundit @AOC pic.twitter.com/rIKqKJnRRy — Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) January 7, 2019



The accompanying article features damning evidence of said nickname, including pages from a yearbook and the credits of that video of Ocasio-Cortez dancing awesomely when she was in high school. I guess the “exclusive” part was that classmates of AOC sent Hoft some pictures from a 2007 high school yearbook.

Twitter immediately began dunking on Hoft, including our own Caleb Howe:

I think you are missing the point. AOC used to go by SANDY.

Sand is a granular material, or GM.

GM was bailed out by Bush.

Bush did 9/11. Sandy did 9/11. — Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) January 7, 2019

BREAKING: Humorless, idiotic grown man continues to go by “Gateway Pundit” https://t.co/nfjAFxfMve — Real Fake P0TUS (@RF_P0TUS) January 7, 2019

I genuinely don’t understand this particular line of attack? pic.twitter.com/2Zo8fWckHM — Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) January 7, 2019

well, I might as well get ahead of gateway pundit. I regret to inform you all that until junior year at BU, I was known on campus as dev patel. — Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) January 7, 2019

EXCLUSIVE: Some called me Cliffy in college, some still do. To others I’m Cliff. My folks yelled “Clifford” when angry w/ me. And Jim Hoft’s so full of shit he was kicked off a CPAC panel bc they worried he’d lie too much. At an event cool w Gorka, L Ingraham & Zinke speaking ?. https://t.co/X51TnyV20L — Cliff Schecter (@cliffschecter) January 7, 2019

Here’s a scoop for you, @gatewaypundit: Manhattan elitist and serial hoaxer Donald Trump went by multiple pseudonyms well into adulthood. He invented the names so he could CALL RADIO SHOWS AND LIE ABOUT HIS OWN SEX APPEAL TO FEED HIS EGO. https://t.co/qZibV0G8xL — Caroline Orr (@RVAwonk) January 7, 2019

100% certian Hoft’s given name is neither “Jim” nor “Gateway”. https://t.co/359VMdSo36 — Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) January 7, 2019



The uproar doesn’t appear to have fazed Hoft, who has tweeted the story out several times, and who is likely enjoying an explosion of traffic due to the uproar. It might even be tempting for some to declare this a win-win for Hoft and AOC. Hoft gets a metric crap-ton of traffic in exchange for his clearly non-existent dignity, and Ocasio-Cortez gets to demonstrate just how badly the rays from her blazing ascent are burning conservatives who are this desperate to smear her.

But the subtext of the story is an attack on her identity as a Latina woman, the implication being that her anglicized nickname betrays the “authenticity” of that identity. It’s similar to the way conservatives attacked Barack Obama by calling him “Barry,” and it’s ugly.

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