x.com/paulg/status/2053042500789575877

Paul Graham’s post says AOC initially claimed it was impossible to make a billion dollars without “dubious tricks,” and that she has now softened that to saying billionaires only often use such tactics.

But the source material does not say that.

• In the podcast coverage quoting AOC’s original remarks, she said: “You can’t earn a billion dollars. You just can’t earn that.” She then listed examples such as getting market power, breaking rules, abusing labor laws, or underpaying workers. That is a claim about earning versus making, not a blanket statement that it is impossible to make a billion dollars.
• In the post Graham was replying to, AOC again made the same distinction explicitly: “Someone can certainly make a billion dollars. That’s not the same thing as earning.”

So the tweet is inaccurate in two ways:

1. It replaces AOC’s actual word “earn” with “make,” changing the substance of her claim.
2. It presents her later post as a retreat from her earlier position, even though her later post repeats the same make/earn distinction rather than conceding that honest billion-dollar fortunes are possible.

Because AOC’s own words directly contradict Graham’s characterization, this is a factual misstatement of what she said.