Fact Check: Did John Kennedy scold AOC and others over 'Green New Deal 2.0' costing $93 trillion?

WASHINGTON, DC: In mid-November, a rumor circulated online claiming that during a live C-SPAN broadcast, Senator John Kennedy scolded Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Democratic Party leadership for the "Green New Deal 2.0" costing $93 trillion.

The rumor spread across several social media platforms such as Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn. But is there any truth to this viral rumor? Let us find out below.

Claim: John Kennedy scolded AOC, others over 'Green New Deal 2.0' costing $93 trillion

A Facebook user named Kienen-Patricia-Natasja shared the viral claim with a collage of photos of Chuck Schumer, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and John Kennedy.

The lengthy caption of the post began, "Kennedy just executed AOC, Schumer & the entire Dem leadership on live C-SPAN – Chamber went funeral-quiet in 38 seconds."

It added, "Senate Floor. AOC was mid-sentence, waving her printed Green New Deal 2.0 like a victory flag. 'Senator Kennedy refuses to support our $93 trillion climate justice plan because he's a dinosaur who—'."

"Kennedy stood up, slow, holding a plain manila folder labeled 'DEM RECEIPTS – DO NOT BEND'. He didn't wait for the chair to recognize him. He just started reading, voice like molasses over broken glass: 'Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Net worth jump 2020-2025: $29,000 → $12.4 million. Campaign promise: 'No corporate PAC money,'" the post added.

It further read, "Actual donors: BlackRock, Google, Pfizer – $4.7 million in dark money funneled through ActBlue shells. Bartender story: last W-2 showed $26k – while mommy's seven rental properties paid the real bills. Green New Deal co-author: Saikat Chakrabarti – fired for funneling $1.2 million to his own LLC'."

"He flipped the page. 'Chuck Schumer. 'Working class hero' from Brooklyn. Current residence: $8.2 million Park Slope brownstone. Wife's net worth: $47 million from Goldman Sachs board seat'," the post concluded.

The post also claimed that the alleged C-SPAN video received "28 million concurrent viewers," and that "#KennedyMassplode trended #1 worldwide for 36 straight hours."

Other social media users shared the rumor on Instagram, LinkedIn, Truth Social, and X, along with two blogs.

Fact Check: False as the facts mentioned in post are not real

The claims made in the online rumor are false as no such C-SPAN video exists. 

Moreover, John Kennedy made no such remarks, nor did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speak on the Senate floor. 

The viral story featured false details about AOC, as well as Chuck Schumer and his wife, Iris Weinshall, and the content was likely written with the help of artificial-intelligence tools.

Interestingly, other Facebook pages also featured the same story along with comments featuring links to advertisement-filled blog articles. The Facebook pages showed page managers were from Vietnam.

Viral story contains unsubstantiated claims about AOC and Chuck Schumer

The false viral story contained several unsubstantiated claims about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Chuck Schumer.

Regarding the $12.4 million net-worth claim, Snopes had earlier reported on the false rumor that Ocasio-Cortez became a multimillionaire after being elected to Congress.

Moreover, searches on search engines such as Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google, and Yahoo showed no information about Ocasio-Cortez receiving $4.7 million in "dark money" campaign contributions.

Furthermore, a part of the post said Saikat Chakrabarti, Ocasio-Cortez's former chief of staff, was "fired for funneling $1.2 million to his own LLC", but a search for Chakrabarti's name showed a Politico report from early August 2019 stating that he had resigned. 

Moreover, as for Schumer and the claim about an $8.2 million apartment, The New York Times reported he purchased his Park Slope apartment in Brooklyn — not a brownstone — in 1983.