Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Thursday ripped a GOP super PAC ad that ran during Thursday night’s Democratic presidential primary debate, calling it “a love letter to the GOP’s white supremacist case.”
“Republicans are running TV ads setting pictures of me on fire to convince people they aren’t racist. Life is weird!” Ocasio-Cortez wrote to her more than 5 million followers.
{mosads}“Know that this wasn’t an ad for young conservatives of color — that was the pretense. What you just watched was a love letter to the GOP’s white supremacist case,” Ocasio-Cortez added in a second tweet Thursday.
The ad, which ran on a Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C., was created by New Faces GOP, a political action committee run by Elizabeth Heng, who made an unsuccessful bid for Congress in California last year.
The 30-second spot opens with a photo of Ocasio-Cortez, with Heng narrating in the background:
“This is the face of socialism and ignorance. Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez know the horror of socialism?”
The picture of the New York lawmaker then burns to reveal images of skulls and skeletons.
“My father was minutes from death in Cambodia before a forced marriage saved his life. That’s socialism. Forced obedience. Starvation,” Heng goes on to say. “Mine is a face of freedom. My skin is not white. I’m not outrageous, racist or socialist. I’m a Republican.”
Heng responded to Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter.
“Are you really calling me a racist?” Heng asked. “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?”
The ad prompted criticism from many who questioned ABC’s decision to broadcast it, with some pointing to ABC’s warning ahead of the debate for participants not to swear and others calling the decision to air the ad inappropriate.
Updated at 8:19 a.m.