Did Ocasio-Cortez Trick People Into Donating to Her Campaign?

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sponsored a 5K “Family Fun Run” in Queens this weekend, ostensibly held to support the Green New Deal, which has become the young congresswoman’s signature legislation. But while 400 runners showed up with $30 in their hands for the registration fee, The New York Post reports that not all of them realized exactly what the money was for. Perhaps convinced that the money would simply go to raising awareness about climate change, they were startled to realize their dollars were going straight into Ocasio-Cortez’s re-election fund.

From the Post:

Environmentally conscious supporters — who jogged through Astoria Park alongside a beaming, strolling AOC — believed their money was going to help save the planet.

“It’s going to help raise awareness and educate people,” a female runner told The Post.

“I think it’s really for this particular New Green Deal,” said Brian Schwartz of Long Island. “No question.”

“It’s to help the environment. To support the Green New Deal,” another woman said. “It’s a good cause.”

A vaguely worded notices on AOC’s Facebook page — saying that the run would support “U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez & the Green New Deal” — worsened the confusion.

But the fine print on a third event-related website revealed the truth.

“Registration fees are contributions to AOC for Congress,” reads the legal disclosure on aoc5k.com, which lists the Federal Election Commission rules that donors must follow.

“It was a campaign fundraiser,” Ocasio-Cortez spokesman Corbin Trent said confirmed.

The $11,000 raised at the run isn’t exactly going to make or break AOC’s reelection campaign, but if FEC officials take a closer look at this event they may come to the conclusion that it was fraudulent. Election rules are tight, and they do not allow adults to make contributions in the names of their children. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to many of the participants in Queens, because they paid $20 entry fees for their kids to run in a special 1K event.

“The site says it’s to benefit her environmental plan,” said one supporter. “If it is going to go directly to her campaign they should have said so.”

Perhaps nothing will come of this, but time and again this woman does things that are more than a little sketchy. One of these days, the other shoe is going to drop, mark our words. There’s something suspicious about her meteoric rise to fame. There’s something…just not quite right here. Wait and see.