--- title: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Video Came From This Trend description: A recently discovered video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing in college was actually inspired by a viral Internet trend. canonical: https://time.com/5493430/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-03T21:25:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:11.079Z og:title: The Story Behind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Dancing Video og:description: Here's what you need to know og:url: https://time.com/5493430/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte284ce5e1673ea38/698942a0ab6d7752d76b48d9/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: House Of Representatives Convenes For First Session Of 2019 To Elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) As Speaker Of The House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Story Behind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Dancing Video twitter:description: Here's what you need to know twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte284ce5e1673ea38/698942a0ab6d7752d76b48d9/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-dancing-video.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's the Viral Internet Trend that Inspired that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Dancing Video > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=de0086dc-4dd2-4763-a4b0-a43fc29ecc29&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Pulled Off the Biggest Upset of 2018 [Watch (HLS stream): How Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Pulled Off the Biggest Upset of 2018](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4EBaH0mm.m3u8) (2:22)  _Published 2018-06-27. In the biggest upset of the 2018 elections so far, the chair of the House Democratic caucus lost his primary race on Tuesday to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old activist who rode an insurgent campaign to an unlikely victory._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 3, 2019 9:25 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 03: Member elect Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) talks to fellow members of Congress during the first session of the 116th Congress at the U.S. Capitol January 03, 2019 in Washington, DC. Under the cloud of a partial federal government shutdown, Speaker designate Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will reclaim her former title as speaker and her fellow Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives for the second time in eight years. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 03: Member elect Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) talks to fellow members of Congress during the first session of the 116th Congress at the U.S. Capitol January 03, 2019 in Washington, DC. Under the cloud of a partial federal government shutdown, Speaker designate Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will reclaim her former title as speaker and her fellow Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives for the second time in eight years. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 3, 2019 9:25 PM UTC A recently rediscovered video featuring Democratic New York representative [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez](http://time.com/5456871/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-memes/) dancing has gone viral after being posted by a Twitter user on Tuesday. In the video, which was made during Ocasio-Cortez’s time as a student at Boston University, the politician and other students dance to Phoenix’s undeniably catchy song, “Lisztomania,” in the style of the epic group dancing scene from _The Breakfast Club_. The video appears to be inspired by [a watershed remix video from 2009](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtE-xnPKj28) that set clips from Brat Pack movies, including that memorable _Breakfast Club_ scene, to “Lisztomania,” which was then [recreated for a widespread YouTube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1ywFh2AZLg) and presumably, many others, including Ocasio-Cortez and her Boston University peers. As might be expected the Internet had plenty of thoughts about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s dancing video and took to social media to sound off on the clip. While the Twitter user who shared the clip initially seemingly did so [to “expose” or shock Ocasio-Cortez and her supporters](https://theslot.jezebel.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-exposed-as-extremely-corny-in-1831466351), her supporters were charmed by the dancing video. See the full video and responses below. > [](https://twitter.com/mirandacgreen/status/1080912905988702208) > [](https://twitter.com/Nicole%5FCliffe/status/1080909707726938112) > [](https://twitter.com/xor/status/1080909782071066628) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ MUSIC PLAYING ]. 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