Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the rapidly rising star of the Democratic party, has lashed out at conservative media for its treatment of women in leadership positions after the Daily Caller published a fake photo of the politician nude in a bath-tub.

The rightwing website published the image showing a woman’s bare feet in the bath, under the headline: “Here’s the photo some people described as a nude selfie of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez”. In fact, the photograph had been circulating on the internet already for a month and has been shown to have been falsely ascribed to the politician by a user on a Reddit forum.

Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter that the use of a discredited image by a prominent conservative outlet showed that “women in leadership face more scrutiny. Period.”

She said the actions of the Daily Caller were “just a matter of time” given that Republicans had been “frothing at the mouth all week” – a phrase that she did not explain. She also criticized the Daily Mail which she accused of sending a reporter “to my boyfriend’s relative’s homes” offering them cash for “stories”.

GOP have been losing their mind + frothing at the mouth all week, so this was just a matter of time.



There is also a Daily Mail reporter (Ruth Styles) going to my boyfriend’s relative’s homes+offering them cash for “stories.”



Women in leadership face more scrutiny. Period. https://t.co/KuHJ75sdMg — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 10, 2019

Ocasio-Cortez became an instant political sensation last June when she ousted in the Democratic primaries a New York congressman who had held the seat for 20 years. She went on to win the general election in November, propelling herself to a leadership position within the new generation of up-and-coming Democratic politicians.

Being the youngest US congresswoman ever to be sworn in (she is now 29), combined with her self-identification as a democratic socialist which has riled conservatives, has brought the social media spotlight onto Ocasio-Cortez with some challenging results. Last week there was a storm of protest on Twitter after a user going under the handle “AnonymousQ” posted an old 30-second video of her dancing on a rooftop while at college.

So far the Democratic representative for New York’s 14th congressional district covering parts of the Bronx and Queens has been effortlessly able to rebuff the onslaught and turn it to her advantage. Her riposte to the dance video was to post a new, 11-second clip of her dancing outside the congressional office. It went viral.

'Congresswomen dance too': Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hits back with new video

In a later tweet, Ocasio-Cortez returned to the Daily Caller theme, lamenting the “completely disgusting behavior from Conservative outlets”. She added a pointed remark about the confirmation process of US supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh, who won Republican support despite the sexual assault allegations made against him by Christine Blasey Ford.

“No wonder they defended Kavanaugh so fiercely,” she wrote.

For those out of the loop, Republicans began to circulate a fake nude photo of me. The @DailyCaller reposted it (!) and refused to indicate it was fake in the title as well.



Completely disgusting behavior from Conservative outlets.



No wonder they defended Kavanaugh so fiercely. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 10, 2019

Earlier in the evening, she said that if “they” – she didn’t specify whom – “want to make an example out of me, I will gladly be one. Hopefully we can be an example of dedication, courage, and persistence under fire.”