Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) denounced the “uncalled for” language used by a college Republican group after it labeled her a “domestic terrorist” in a fundraising email.
Such rhetoric, the freshman congresswoman said in a tweet, “puts me in danger.”
On Wednesday, Dave Levinthal, a politics editor at the Center for Public Integrity, tweeted a screenshot of the fundraising email sent by the Ohio Federation of College Republicans. “AOC is a domestic terrorist,” the email’s subject line read.
“My fellow students often tell me that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a ‘role model’ and that America should be more like socialist Europe. We need your help to stop the brainwashing!” elaborated Tom Ferrall, the chairman of the group, in the email.
Levinthal told The Washington Post that, although fundraising emails from political groups often contain “hyperbolic, misleading or … demonstrable errors,” the college group’s note was “the first I’ve seen that puts a sitting congresswoman on par with mass murderers who blow up buildings or kill schoolchildren.”
Ocasio-Cortez, who’s been a target of frequent death threats since taking office, said that whenever such violent rhetoric is used against her and her colleagues, they see a “spike” in threats.
“Multiple ppl have been arrested trying to harm me, Ilhan, & others,” she added, referring to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). “@GOP, what’s it going to take to stop?”
Facing backlash, the Ohio Federation of College Republicans has attempted to distance itself from the inflammatory email, telling The Guardian that it had been “unauthorized,” though it did not elaborate.
In a statement provided to The Guardian, the group apologized to Ocasio-Cortez for the “use of unacceptable language in this email.”
“We do not approve of the message conveyed,” it added.