https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/04/politics/ocasio-cortez-dancing-video-trnd/index.html

(CNN)An attempt to discredit freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez using a video from her past backfired -- sending many on social media defending her instead.

The 30-second video was widely shared on Twitter on Wednesday and appeared to show a younger Ocasio-Cortez gleefully dancing on the roof of a building. A day later, she was sworn in as the youngest woman in Congress.

"Here is America's favorite commie know-it-all acting like the clueless nitwit she is," read the tweet from AnonymousQ1776, who described it as a video from her high school days.



But the edited clip is part of a 4-minute, 20-second video posted on YouTube eight years ago. And it was filmed at Boston University as part of a popular trend at the time. Ocasio-Cortez, who graduated from the university in 2011 with a degree in economics and international relations, was among a group of student dancers who took part in the video, which showed them imitating scenes from popular 1980s films.

"Using the European band Phoenix's Lisztomania, the students created what they call the BU "Lisztomania" Brat Pack Mashup, a homage to the original, which first aired on YouTube last year," the university said at the time. "The mashup, a remix of song and video clips, was an instant sensation and has been replicated worldwide."