New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has fans wondering if she has tied the knot after her two latest Instagram posts show the progressive political superstar wearing what appeared to be two gold bands on her wedding finger.
The possible change in Ocasio-Cortez’s relationship status was first noted by popular gossip account Deux Moi , which boasts over 600,000 followers. A user submitted an email pointing out Ocasio-Cortez’s new jewelry and asked if anyone had details about a potential engagement or wedding. The email was then rebroadcast over the account’s Instagram stories.
“AOC def wearing a wedding/engagement ring in latest posts. Anyone know if she and Riley tied the knot?” the anonymous submitter wrote.
The two posts that first sparked the rumors featured Ocasio-Cortez dressed in a simple gunmetal gray turtleneck. Her hair was styled straight and into a center part. In addition to the two gold bands that she wore on her left fourth finger, she also sported a pair of small gold hoop earrings.
In the clips, Ocasio-Cortez did not bring up her personal life, but instead used the forum as a way to answer questions from her followers. Though her hand remained out of sight for most of the discussion, she opened both videos by waving to her viewers. In addition, the still image of one upload featured AOC leaning her cheek against her left hand.
Ocasio-Cortez has not made any announcements on her relationship status.
The posts received massive support from social media, with the first clip alone garnering over 900,000 likes.
Fans did not appear to pick up on the new jewelry, with a majority instead expressing their support for the 31-year-old and wishing for her health and safety after she and other lawmakers were put in danger by the Capitol Hill riots earlier this January. That said, comments were moderated, so it is possible that AOC’s team deleted questions about her marital status.
The representative has long been low-key about her tech consultant beau, Riley Roberts. A 2018 Vogue profile described him as “an easy-going redhead” and claimed that the two share a one bedroom apartment in the Bronx. In the interview, Ocasio-Cortez confessed that the couple first met “in true nerdy fashion” at a weekly Friday-afternoon open-mic forum hosted by the dean at BU.
The two broke up shortly after college, when Roberts moved to Arizona for a job opportunity. However, the pair rekindled their romance after he returned to New York City.
“They’re really a team,” a mutual college friend said of the couple, per Business Insider . The friend also detailed their dynamic, explaining that Roberts is Ocasio-Cortez’s “grounding force” behind the scenes while she is more comfortable being in the spotlight.
“There’s one messenger and that’s her,” the insider said.