A rumor that U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., once said, "I am as powerful as a man and it drives them crazy," circulated online in mid-April 2026.
Users online shared the alleged quote on Reddit and X, often coupled with photos of Ocasio-Cortez apparently having a heated dialogue with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following his testimony during a House Committee of Energy and Commerce hearing on April 21.
The images originated with a post on X by a Wall Street Journal reporter and were then circulated by users along with the alleged quote. Some who shared the images appeared to suggest the quote represents what Ocasio-Cortez was saying to Kennedy at that moment.
"The idea that a woman can be as powerful as a man is something that our society can't deal with. But l am as powerful as a man and it drives them crazy. " - AOC pic.twitter.com/IdTl0EsjT0
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) April 22, 2026
Although the quote appears to be correctly attributed to Ocasio-Cortez, it was not from the April 2026 hearing or its aftermath. The statement was originally reported in a New Yorker profile written by David Remnick and published March 3, 2019. We have left this claim unrated until we can independently verify the statement's origin.
We've reached out to Ocasio-Cortez to confirm the reporting's accuracy and will update this article if we hear back.
A spokesperson for The New Yorker told Snopes via email they could not divulge source information (such as interview transcripts) externally, but emphasized that all published articles are "rigorously fact checked."
The New Yorker article — under the headline "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Coming for Your Hamburgers!" — was published months after Ocasio-Cortez was sworn in as a U.S. representative following an upset victory in New York's 2018 Democratic primary.
The article featured a significant focus on conservatives' reactions to the rising progressive star and her involvement in the Green New Deal, a public-policy framework aimed at addressing climate change. The article aimed to get Ocasio-Cortez's reaction to perceived sexist or racist comments made by members of President Donald Trump's family, evangelical leader Jerry Falwell and some media outlets.
In specific, the quote in question was a response to a Jezebel article from Feb. 22, 2019, which stated:
In politics, women are often either characterized as hideous harpies like Hillary Clinton or pretty idiots whose "craziness" is bound up with their sex appeal…
…To her critics, Ocasio-Cortez is firmly in the pretty idiot category, with her dedication to climate change, taxation of the rich, and the abolishment of ICE reduced to foolish nonsense from a doe-eyed Latina with a great rack. This is embarrassingly evident among men on the right, who seem twisted by their own sexism; unable to temper their attraction in spite of their contempt for Ocasio-Cortez's policies.
According to the New Yorker article, Ocasio-Cortez said she had predicted such a response from "day one," then added, "The idea that a woman can be as powerful as a man is something that our society can't deal with. But I am as powerful as a man and it drives them crazy."
She said she suspected Trump would be "enormously upset" that "the daughter of a domestic worker is helping to build the case to get his financial records."
While The New Yorker is generally considered credible, Snopes bases its ratings on primary evidence wherever possible. This claim will remain unrated until such time as we can independently confirm that the statement is correctly attributed to Ocasio-Cortez.