Does an image show Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez performing a Nazi salute? No, that's not true: The image was taken out of context. It's a still from a video captured while Ocasio-Cortez was reaching out to another member of Congress for a hug.
The claim was implied in a post (archived here) on X on January 21, 2025. The post followed Ocasio-Cortez criticizing the Anti-Defamation League (archived here) for dismissing claims that Elon Musk gave a Nazi salute during a presidential inauguration event (archived here). The post included an image of Ocasio-Cortez raising her arm above her head and was captioned:
Hi @AOC, this you? Literally shaking.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Jan 22 21:46:50 2025 UTC)
Lead Stories used Google to perform a reverse image search that led us to the full image featured in a post published on February 15, 2024, on Ocasio-Cortez's official Facebook page (archived here). It shows Ocasio-Cortez reaching out to hug Sen. Ed Markey at a Green New Deal rally. A screenshot of the post is included below:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Jan 22 22:47:11 2025 UTC)
Lead Stories searched on Google using key terms to find the image's origin (archived here). We found a video titled "Five Year Anniversary of the Green New Deal" that was streamed live on February 6, 2024. The moment shown in the image occurred at the 5:27 mark of the video, during which Ocasio-Cortez reaches out to Markey for a hug as he introduces her during the rally. The gesture is not a salute but rather the beginning of an embrace.
Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims related to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can be found here.
