Sports Illustrated is going to bat for Ashley Graham after Toccara Jones called her twerking abilities subpar -- and this new video of her booty-shaking in the sand ... is the perfect re-butt-al..
SI posted the new clip on Wednesday ... showing more of Ashley's on location twerk-off with a photo shoot crew member. Interestingly, the video dropped AFTER Toccara, the "Queen of Thickness," called out AG's twerk skills.
She straight-up laughed, telling us Ashley was lacking some major pop.
In Toccara's defense ... she was looking at a different SI vid (below), where Ashley was shot from afar.
We have no clue if the new angle would sway Toccara's vote, but we'll say this -- Ashley's got plenty of swaying going on back there. Plenty.
Short story, long ... Sports Illustrated clapped back with a sub-gram of Ashley clapping a lot of back. Well played. On everyone's part.