During Thursday night's presidential debate on ABC, the network aired a Republican ad critical of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). The spot, created by a Republican PAC called New Faces GOP, described AOC as "the face of socialism." The ad then shows her picture burning, before airing images of the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia in the 1970s, orchestrated by brutal communist leader Pol Pot.
Republicans are running TV ads setting pictures of me on fire to convince people they aren’t racist.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 13, 2019
Life is weird!
The congresswoman noted how ABC and Sinclair Broadcast Group would "profit" from burning her likeness on TV. While she could expect threats.
The image of AOC's face burning sparked a "Boycott ABC" trend online, led by Democratic leaders like the Democratic Coalition Co-founder Scott Dworkin. He added that ABC "can go to hell."
.@TheDemCoalition Co-founder Scott Dworkin criticized ABC for airing the commercial, suggesting it could incite extremists and put the AOC’s life in jeopardy. “ABC can go to hell,” Dworkin said. “People need to be fired over this.” #BoycottABC https://t.co/j1qbMuhMUg
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) September 13, 2019
Some of AOC's fellow Squad members spoke out about the ad too, calling it a display of violence.
Exactly my thoughts. The mere act of burning her image is a display of violence. Folks need to stick to facts & policy positions. They need to stop fear mongering & more importantly demonizing members of Congress. FYI: No one puts her residents (and our planet) first, like @AOC https://t.co/K2Qz1N0PeN
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) September 13, 2019
The Republican lawmaker who narrated the ad, Elizabeth Heng, rejected those claims.
Not Republicans. Me. Are you really calling me a racist @aoc? I’m calling all Democrats out for supporting an evil ideology. Or are you just in Congress to hang out with celebrities and tweet out ridiculous ideas like the green new deal? https://t.co/w985LYjIZd
— Elizabeth Heng (@ElizabethHeng) September 13, 2019
Heng added that the Demcorats "are more offended by truthful words than the acts of their political ideology that has killed millions of innocent victims."
I "don't care" about AOC's feelings, Heng said. She "cares about stopping her lies about the lies of socialism."