Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Breakfast Club Dance Video — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez dancing on a rooftop in a Boston University shirt

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Breakfast Club Dance Video

2019viral videoclassic

Published August 15, 2026

The Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Breakfast Club Dance Video is a 2010 college clip of the future congresswoman dancing to Phoenix's Lisztomania that went viral in January 2019 after a right-wing account reshared it hoping to embarrass her. The attempted smear backfired when viewers found the footage endearing, spawning a wave of song-swap remixes.

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Overview

The Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Breakfast Club Dance Video is a 2010 YouTube clip of the future New York congresswoman dancing with Boston University classmates to Phoenix's indie hit "Lisztomania," staged as a tribute to the closing dance scene from the 1985 John Hughes film The Breakfast Club3. In the credits she is listed as "Sandy" Ocasio-Cortez, a nickname from her college years.

The clip sat quietly online for nearly nine years until early January 2019, when a conservative Twitter account reshared an edited version hoping to damage the newly sworn-in Democratic representative1. The plan backfired almost immediately, as commenters from across the political spectrum agreed the footage made her look charming rather than embarrassing, and the video was reworked into a running remix joke2.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (2010 source video) / Twitter (2019 viral spread)
Creator
Julian Jensen
Date
2019

On September 30th, 2010, YouTuber Julian Jensen uploaded the original video showing a group of Boston University students recreating the famous library dance from The Breakfast Club, set to the 2009 Phoenix track "Lisztomania"3. A young Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appears prominently in the routine, credited on the video as "Sandy" Ocasio-Cortez.

The clip attracted modest interest for years, eventually pulling in more than 1.3 million YouTube views by the time it caught fire in 20194. On December 2nd, 2018, the Conservative News YouTube channel posted an early cutdown that isolated her dance shots and dubbed them over a Bo Diddley beat, foreshadowing the smear framing that would blow up a month later4.

How It Spread

The meme ignited on January 2nd, 2019, when Twitter user @AnonymousQ1776, described as a QAnon supporter, tweeted the edited footage with a caption calling her "America's favorite commie know-it-all" and mocking her as "Sandy" Ocasio-Cortez1. The post pulled in over 2,000 retweets and 9,000 likes before the account deleted it under a wave of ridicule.

Conservative outlets pivoted quickly, with The American Conservative1 and the Washington Examiner2 both publishing pieces arguing the clip made Ocasio-Cortez look likable rather than foolish. Original Breakfast Club actress Molly Ringwald tweeted her support of the congresswoman, drawing roughly 1,800 retweets and 13,000 likes and cementing the flip from smear to endorsement.

Ocasio-Cortez answered directly by filming herself dancing outside her congressional office to Edwin Starr's "War" and posting the video on Twitter, joking that the GOP thinks women dancing are scandalous. Fans then built a full remix meme around the original footage, swapping Phoenix for Prince's "Let's Go Crazy," the Philadelphia 76ers arena theme via @JimAdair3, and dozens of other songs; a dedicated @AOC_Dances account launched the same day and picked up over 9,000 followers within 48 hours5.

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How to Use This Meme

The template typically involves taking the original Boston University dance footage and dubbing it over a different song, with the humor often coming from how well she stays on beat with music the video was never cut to. Common conventions include arena rock, hip-hop, and nostalgic sports themes, and the format is still cited whenever a political attack video is felt to help its target rather than hurt them.

Frequently Asked Questions