Ocasio-Cortez didn’t call Jesus and Trump ‘con artists.’ A satire site made it up

A story going around the internet claims that Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez compared President Donald Trump to Jesus Christ.

It doesn’t sound too egregious until you read the entire headline: "AOC Laughs ‘Jesus Was A Lot Like Trump, Both Con Artists’"

The story was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) 

No, the New York congresswoman did not say that Jesus and Trump were a lot alike, or call them con artists. The report is fake and originated on a satire website.

We found the story on a website called Zone News, but the article was initially posted on a satirical website called BustaTroll, which is part of a network of such sites run by Christoper Blair. That site has a disclaimer that says everything posted on it is fiction, but the Zone News version of the story contains no such warning or label.

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The same claim was also posted on a Blair-affiliated website called Freedom Fictions with the headline: "Fact Check: Yes, AOC Called Jesus & Trump ‘Con Artists.’" Freedom Fictions is a fake fact-check site that routinely proclaims articles previously posted on BustaTroll and other satirical sites as true.

Blair has told PolitiFact that his satire operation is designed to fool conservatives with stories that most people would find absurd.

We rate this Pants on Fire!