AOC’s Bronx Girl Claim Challenged by Yearbook Evidence of Suburban Roots

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s self-styled identity as a gritty Bronx native took a hit this week when New York Assemblyman Matt Slater, a former high school acquaintance, shared yearbook photos placing her in suburban Yorktown Heights, nearly an hour from the Bronx. The images, posted on X, show a young AOC at Yorktown High School, where Slater says they overlapped—she as a freshman, he as a senior, even running together on the track team.

Slater didn’t mince words on Fox & Friends First, calling her Bronx narrative a "bold-face lie." Yorktown, a quiet Westchester suburb with a rural charm, is where AOC graduated high school in 2007, mascot and all: a cornhusker. While she’s acknowledged her Westchester years, her political brand leans hard into her Bronx roots—a story now under scrutiny.

The dust-up comes amid AOC’s latest clash with President Donald Trump, sparked by her renewed impeachment calls over his unilateral authorization of U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. In a fiery X post, she declared, "I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast," taking a jab at Trump’s Queens upbringing. Slater wasn’t buying it, dismissing her claim as "patently ridiculous" and pointing to a broader "authenticity problem" in Democratic politics.

Slater’s critique extends beyond AOC, roping in figures like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, whom he accuses of exaggerating their backgrounds for votes. For AOC, the yearbook saga raises questions about the narrative she’s crafted—one that’s fueled her meteoric rise but now faces a suburban-sized reality check.