ObamaCare Girl: Stop the Cyberbullying

HealthCare.gov's Adriana: 'I didn't make it fail'
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 13, 2013 12:00 PM CST
ObamaCare Girl: Stop the Cyberbullying
A screenshot from the ABC News interview.   (ABC News)

A mystery no more: The woman whose face once adorned the ObamaCare website is finally speaking out in an interview with ABC News. Having faced anger over the site and the ridicule of comedians and Photoshop artists, "I'm here to stand up for myself and defend myself and let people know the truth," says Adriana, identified only by her first time. "I don't know why people should hate me because it's just a photo. I didn't design the website. I didn't make it fail."

Those making fun of her "have nothing else to do but hide behind the computer. They're cyberbullying," says Adriana, a Colombia native and legal US resident married to an American citizen. She ended up on the site after emailing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; she wanted free pictures of her family and was willing to let the images be used to promote ObamaCare. The Maryland mother wasn't paid for the images. After they were removed from the site, she was relieved, she says. Now, she's able to laugh about the jokes, but "in a way, I'm glad that my son is not old enough to understand—because you know, whatever happens to you, it hurts them, too." Her stance on ObamaCare? No opinion, she says. (More Adriana stories.)

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