No, AOC is not cashing grandmother’s Social Security checks, this is satire

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., didn’t glibly dismiss news that her family had been receiving improper Social Security payments on behalf of a deceased relative. That’s because this purported news originated on a self-described satire site. 

"AOC has no excuse for why her family has been cashing her dead grandmother’s Social Security checks for a decade and a half: ‘We must have just overlooked it,’" an April 3 Facebook post said. "They overlooked a $3,400 deposit from the SSA every month for 14 and a half years? Sounds likely." 

This Facebook post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

We found no evidence, such as credible news reports or public statements from Ocasio-Cortez, to support this post. 

America’s Last Line of Defense, a Facebook page aimed at trolling conservatives with fake-news clickbait, posted March 22 that "AOC has been collecting her dead grandmother’s Social Security check for 21 years. She should be in jail, not Congress."

On April 2, the account posted a link to an affiliated fake news site with this headline: "AOC’s family ‘overlooked’ 14.5 years of cashing grandma’s Social Security checks."

Featured Fact-check

Alex Jones

stated on March 11, 2025 in a podcast episode

Deceased InfoWars reporter Jamie White was on a “Ukrainian enemies hit list.”

"In a shocking revelation that has left absolutely no one surprised, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing scrutiny over her family’s alleged 14.5-year ‘oversight’ of depositing her deceased grandmother’s Social Security checks," the story said. "When pressed for an explanation, AOC reportedly shrugged and said, ‘We must have just overlooked it.’"

But there’s a caveat at the bottom of the site: "Nothing on this page is real." The Facebook posts reshared the information without that context.

We rate claims Ocasio-Cortez cashed her grandmother’s Social Security checks because she "overlooked" it Pants on Fire!