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Did Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez Say 'Owning Guns Is Not a Right' in the Constitution?

Bogus quotes on murder, abortion, and constitutional rights circulated on social media in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election.

by David Mikkelson, Jan. 18, 2019


Speech bubble on multicolored background.


A meme circulating on social media since late 2019 attributed four outrageous statements to various Democratic politicians, including 2020 presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren:

All of these quotes are fabricated and do not reflect anything actually said by any of the persons listed, as detailed in the stories listed below. But for quick reference:

The preposterous quote attributed to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee originated on a now-defunct satire site.

The notion that former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden once proclaimed "no ordinary American cares about their constitutional rights" is based on an absurdly distorted version of something Biden said while discussing Second Amendment rights ("No law abiding citizen in the United States of America has any fear that their Constitutional rights will be infringed in any way. None, zero.").

The notion that Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts once declared that, "Having an abortion is no different than someone having their tonsils removed" is also based on an absurdly distorted version of something Warren said while discussing reproductive rights ("Today, thanks to [Roe v. Wade], getting an abortion is safer than getting your tonsils out").

The claim that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York opined that "owning guns is not a right" and "if it were a right, it would be in the Constitution" was one of many fake quotes circulated just after Ocasio-Cortez took office as a freshman representative in January 2019, as part of a concerted attempt to falsely portray her as ignorant.


By David Mikkelson

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

Sheila Jackson-Lee

Did Sheila Jackson Lee Say This About Murder?

Feb. 13, 2020

A routine review of content labeled satire.

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Did Joe Biden Say 'No Ordinary American Cares About Their Constitutional Rights'?

Feb. 12, 2016

An absurd claim about a Joe Biden statement features a distorted version of his actual words.

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Did U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren Say Abortion Is 'No Different' Than Removing Tonsils?

Jan. 25, 2019

Right-leaning Facebook pages and websites twisted something the Massachusetts Democrat wrote in ...

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Did Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez Say 'Owning Guns Is Not a Right' in the Constitution?

Jan. 18, 2019

Attempts to discredit the freshman lawmaker from NYC seem to know no end.

Read More



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