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AOC Comments On Chemical Spill
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AOC Comments On Chemical Spill

Wednesday night’s CNN town hall featuring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders was supposed to be a showcase of progressive passion and grassroots energy. What it turned into, however, was an unscripted detour into absurdity that left even casual observers scratching their heads—and, in some cases, laughing out loud.


During a fiery moment in the joint appearance, AOC launched into a tirade about environmental destruction and corporate malfeasance, accusing “Deloitte” of dumping toxic chemicals into a river and causing it to catch on fire. Let that sink in: Deloitte—the multinational accounting and consulting firm—was apparently responsible for what sounds like an environmental disaster out of the Erin Brockovich playbook.


Now, anyone with a working knowledge of U.S. industry might assume she meant DuPont, the chemical giant that has indeed faced multiple lawsuits and investigations related to environmental contamination. But AOC didn’t say DuPont. She said Deloitte. And unlike a casual slip of the tongue, this was delivered with full conviction, as if it were the ultimate mic-drop moment of corporate condemnation.


What followed wasn’t applause, but a tidal wave of confusion and mockery. Social media lit up. Even friendly commentators were unsure how to salvage the moment. And in the absence of a correction—let alone a follow-up question from moderator Kaitlan Collins—viewers were left to interpret this as yet another data point in AOC’s increasingly erratic public commentary.


We don’t grade town halls often, but this one earned a solid D—and not the kind that stands for “Democratic Socialist.” It was a textbook case in how emotional rhetoric, when untethered from fact, can backfire dramatically. In trying to conjure a vivid image of corporate villainy, AOC instead spotlighted her own tenuous grasp on basic industry knowledge.

Written by Arthur Higgens - October 16, 2025