Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Slams Banks: Chase's 'MondayMotivation' Tweet Sparks AOC Rebuttal That Went Viral

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Congressional Financial Services Committee, drew attention Tuesday when she responded to a Twitter posting from Chase Bank that had the hashtag "MondayMotivation" and which seemingly shamed customers for splurging on coffee, eating out and taking cabs.

The bank appeared to be attempting to motivate customers, particularly millennials, to budget better. The tweet was later deleted amid widespread backlash that was helped by Ocasio-Cortez's social media presence.

"You: Why is my balance so low / Bank account: make coffee at home / Bank account: eat the food that's already in the fridge / Bank account: you don't need a cab, it's only three blocks / You: I guess we'll never know / Bank account: seriously?" the Chase tweet read.

Ocasio-Cortez, who has generated a strong following on social media, gave a retort to Chase on Twitter that quickly went viral.

The New York congresswoman's tweet received 124,000 likes — more than any other tweet she posted this week. Ocasio-Cortez has 4.07 million Twitter followers and is among the more active lawmakers on social media.

Perhaps off the success of the tweet, Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday posted on a different topic but referenced Chase's tweet, which read: "A little motivation mantra for your Thursday morning..."

Ocasio-Cortez wasn't the only Democrat to call out Chase. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts shared their spinoff memes with a tweet that shared Ocasio-Cortez's tone but with a slightly different spin.

Warren's tweet read: "Why aren’t customers saving money? Taxpayers: we lost our jobs/homes/savings but gave you a $25b bailout. Workers: employers don’t pay living wages. Economists: rising costs + stagnant wages = 0 savings. Chase: guess we’ll never know. Everyone: seriously?"

After the recent criticism, Chase posted a more apologetic posting on Twitter.

The bank in January had posted a tweet with a different message of thrift that received little backlash. It riffed on an Ariana Grande lyric, from the song Seven Rings: "You see it, you like it, you want it, don’t buy it! - Your Bank Account."

This is the second time in recent weeks that Chase has come under fire by critics. In a congressional hearing on April 10, CEO Jamie Dimon couldn’t explain how one of Chase's tellers, a single mother living in a one-bedroom apartment with her 6-year-old in upscale Irvine, California, could live on a $16.50-per-hour wage.

During the hearing, Rep. Katie Porter, whose district includes Irvine, diagrammed the teller's monthly expenses, excluding medical care, clothing, school lunches, field trips, and prescription drugs and still calculated the full-time employee would be $567 short each month.

Dimon, who made $31 million in salary in 2018, received criticism for responding to each of Porter's questions by saying that he didn't know and would have to think about it.

Porter described the bank's recent Twitter gaffe as a poor attempt to sound "relatable." She also noted on Twitter that "it's insulting when Too Big to Fail banks try to shame American families for having a hard time making ends meet."

Bobby Ilich contributed to this report.