AOC floats wild theory why Mike Johnson is stonewalling 'deepfakes' bill

Source: Raw Story · Bias: Far Left

Summary

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) put forward a wild theory about why House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is blocking a bipartisan victims' rights act.The legislation, called the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images And Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act, improves the legal rights of victims of AI-generated "deepfakes," which can be used to put real people in sexually compromising positions they were never actually in.In Ocasio-Cortez's thinking, she told Emma Vigeland on "The Majority Report" podcast, the reason Johnson doesn't want the bill to go through is that it has her own name on it."I have bills that are so commonsense that passed committee unanimously, that everyone agrees on, Republicans agree on, Democrats agree on, swing-seat folks agree on," said Ocasio-Cortez. "And having people on my team be told, this can't move because it has her name on it, that has happened in the past, under both party leaderships."In general, she added, "we find other ways to be effective," so that's not the end of the world. "But I do think that when it comes to this issue, I would really implore Speaker Johnson and Republicans ... we should not allow pedophiles and sexual abusers to run amok because you just don't like a girl. Hot take."Previous reporting indicated that Republicans particularly don't want an Ocasio-Cortez bill to advance because they are fearful it would bolster her credentials to run for president in 2028.

Related Coverage

Daily Analysis

Read the full Parallax Pulse for July 30, 2026 — an AI-powered analysis of how Left and Right media covered the biggest stories this day.

More Headlines From July 30, 2026

AOC floats wild theory why Mike Johnson is stonewalling 'deepfakes' bill
Raw Story

AOC floats wild theory why Mike Johnson is stonewalling 'deepfakes' bill

Far Left

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) put forward a wild theory about why House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is blocking a bipartisan victims' rights act.The legislation, called the Disrupt Explicit Forged Images And Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act, improves the legal rights of victims of AI-generated "deepfakes," which can be used to put real people in sexually compromising positions they were never actually in.In Ocasio-Cortez's thinking, she told Emma Vigeland on "The Majority Report" podcast, the reason Johnson doesn't want the bill to go through is that it has her own name on it."I have bills that are so commonsense that passed committee unanimously, that everyone agrees on, Republicans agree on, Democrats agree on, swing-seat folks agree on," said Ocasio-Cortez. "And having people on my team be told, this can't move because it has her name on it, that has happened in the past, under both party leaderships."In general, she added, "we find other ways to be effective," so that's not the end of the world. "But I do think that when it comes to this issue, I would really implore Speaker Johnson and Republicans ... we should not allow pedophiles and sexual abusers to run amok because you just don't like a girl. Hot take."Previous reporting indicated that Republicans particularly don't want an Ocasio-Cortez bill to advance because they are fearful it would bolster her credentials to run for president in 2028.

AOC floats wild theory why Mike Johnson is stonewalling 'deepfakes' bill | ParallaxNews.io