Before Hurricane Dorian continued to churn north toward the Carolinas, Florida drivers waited in long lines at gas stations ahead of the storm’s anticipated arrival. In some cases they abandoned their cars after fuel ran out.
A Sept. 4 post on Facebook appears to show U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez using this moment to promote an initiative aimed at curbing climate change — but it’s a fake image of her Twitter account.
"I see people are rushing out to fill up their cars for this hurricane at the gas station," begins what looks like a screenshot of Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet. "This wouldn’t be an issue if they had electric cars. If the power is out for a week how are they going to get gas? We need to start planning ahead and moving forward."
This post, which has been shared more than 2,600 times, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
The image has been around at least since Aug. 31, when Sebastian Gorka, a former official in President Donald Trump’s administration, asked on Twitter if Ocasio-Cortez really tweeted that.
"Nope," Ocasio-Cortez replied.
Searching through her recent tweets, we saw nothing like the image in the Facebook post. We also didn’t see it on Politwoops, which tracks deleted tweets by public officials.
We rate this Facebook post False.
Facebook post, Sept. 4, 2019
CNN, Long lines for gas across Florida ahead of Hurricane Dorian, Aug. 31, 2019
CNN, People are leaving their cars at gas stations as fuel runs out in Florida ahead of Hurricane Dorian, Aug. 30, 2019
Sebastian Gorka tweet, Aug. 31, 2019
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Twitter account, visited Sept. 5, 2019
Politwoops, visited Sept. 5, 2019
In a world of wild talk and fake news, help us stand up for the facts.
