'Deplatforming works’: AOC’s reaction to Tucker Carlson ouster resurfaces amid Jimmy Kimmel drama

WASHINGTON, DC: Are some on the left only in favor of cancel culture when it targets conservatives? That question is gaining traction online after ABC pulled 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' following a controversial joke blaming conservatives for Charlie Kirk’s murder, even though evidence suggests the accused killer may hold left-wing views.

The incident comes after Tucker Carlson’s high-profile exit from Fox News, a move that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez openly celebrated. Yet, while her past comments on deplatforming Carlson are now resurfacing, Ocasio-Cortez has remained silent on Kimmel’s cancellation, raising new questions about double standards in cancel culture.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's reaction to Tucker Carlson's exit resurfaces

Democratic New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reacted to Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News in a selfie video posted in April 2023, saying, “Tucker Carlson is out at Fox News. Couldn’t have happened to a better guy.”

She went on to express her relief, stating that Carlson was "arguably responsible for … driving some of the most amounts of death threats and violent threats not just to my office."

Drawing a dramatic comparison, she said the situation felt like "waiting for the cutscene at the end of a marvel movie, after all the credits have rolled, and then you see, like, the villain’s, like, hand reemerges." She concluded by reaffirming her belief, "Out to grip over, like, the end of a building or something. But, deplatforming works, and it is important, and there you go, good things can happen."

AOC advocates for deplatforming controversial figures

Ocasio-Cortez has long advocated for deplatforming controversial figures, echoing a broader trend among prominent Democrats. In February 2022, she questioned why Tucker Carlson was still allowed and paid to “engage in clear, targeted, libelous harassment” that, she argued, puts people in danger and forces them to “fundraise for their own safety.”

In a 2023 interview with former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, Ocasio-Cortez doubled down, saying that broadcast networks like Fox News should be subject to federal laws and regulations.

She claimed, "I believe that when it comes to broadcast television, like Fox News, these are subject to, to federal law, federal regulation, in terms of what’s allowed on air and what isn’t."

She added, "And, when you look at what Tucker Carlson and some of these other folks on Fox do, it is very, very, clearly incitement of violence, very clearly incitement of violence, and that is the line that I think we have to be willing to contend with."

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez remains silent on Jimmy Kimmel's removal

Ocasio-Cortez has not directed similar criticism toward MSNBC or CNN hosts following the killing of Charlie Kirk. Although she previously urged political leaders to "lower the temperature," it seems ABC took that suggestion quite literally by taking Jimmy Kimmel off the air. So far, Ocasio-Cortez has remained silent on Kimmel’s removal, though others have spoken up in her place.

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes called the incident the “latest chapter in Donald Trump’s ongoing campaign to crack down on free speech, dominate the media, and essentially render the First Amendment meaningless.”

His reaction to Tucker Carlson’s firing from Fox News was notably different. At the time, Hayes remarked that Carlson acted like he could say anything, no matter how vile, offensive, or dehumanizing, and suggested that repeated behavior like that eventually leads to unpopularity on a national scale.

When Donald Trump was banned from Twitter in January 2021, journalist Matthew Yglesias noted, “It’s kind of weird that deplatforming Trump just like completely worked with no visible downside whatsoever.”

The Nieman Journalism Lab echoed that sentiment in June 2021, pointing to new data on Trump’s tweets as proof that “deplatforming works.”

AOC faces backlash for her past comments on deplatforming

Following Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension from ABC, past comments made by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in support of deplatforming resurfaced, prompting a wave of criticism online. Many users on X (formerly Twitter) accused her of hypocrisy.

One X commenter tweeted, “Great reminder to those currently engaged in hypocrisy. They won't see it the same, though. They are blind to reason.” One post read, “Now if we can just oust her...”

Some comments took a more sarcastic tone. “She thought she was doing something with that filter. Still looks like she needs some sugar cubes thrown her way!” one user joked.

One user wrote, “She just wants conservative voices silenced so that she doesn’t sound so crazy.”

Another wrote, “Poetic justice. The queen of cancel culture just watched her own weapon turn on her allies.”

One user wrote, “They're such hypocrites. They cheered on deplatforming.”

One user referenced her own past remarks, saying, “Like AOC says: ‘Deplatforming works.’ Right from the horse’s mouth (yes, I said it!). That cutscene that she was craving was the leftist murder of Charlie Kirk. AOC contributed to the creation of that leftist monster.”

This article contains remarks made on the internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online