AOC Butts into Dispute that Has Nothing To Do with Her, Gets Debate Challenge from Sports Media Mogul Dave Portnoy
Democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York seems to have no problem going toe-to-toe with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but she might have bitten off more than she can chew by picking a fight with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy and his army of supporters.
Portnoy caught the attention of Ocasio-Cortez with his response to news that employees of The Ringer, a sports website founded by Bill Simmons, have decided to form a union.
Portnoy tweeted out a “little refresher” about his stance on unions, which linked to a blog post from 2015 where he reacted to Gawker writers voting to unionize. (Gawker went defunct barely a year later.)
Heard @ringer employees want to unionize. Little refresher how I feel about unions. Gawker Writers Vote To Unionize https://t.co/bRWpluAqw1
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 12, 2019
“BAHAHA! I hope and I pray that Barstool employees try to unionize,” the clearly comical post reads.
“I can’t tell you how much I want them to unionize. Just so I can smash their little union to smithereens,” he added.
“Nothing would please me more than to break it into a million little pieces. Oh you think you deserve health insurance? You don’t think you should have to work with squirrels in the office? You don’t think I should duct tape Hank to the walls? Well now yis can’t leave! No more free water! No more vacation days!”
As is often the case, Portnoy quickly came under attack from an outrage mob that has no idea who he is and what he does.
A writer for Live Science tweeted a message imploring Barstool employees to contact him about how to unionize.
If you work for Barstool and want to have a private chat about the unionization process, how little power your boss has to stop you, and how you can leverage that power to make your life better: my DMs are open.
— Rafi Letzter (@RafiLetzter) August 13, 2019
Portnoy responded, writing that he would “fire” any employees who contacted the Live Science writer “on the spot.”
If you work for @barstoolsports and DM this man I will fire you on the spot https://t.co/u9vG3VgfV1
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 13, 2019
That’s when Ocasio-Cortez, despite being more likely to have visited MyBarstools.com at least once in her life than BarstoolSports.com, decided to get involved.
If you’re a boss tweeting firing threats to employees trying to unionize, you are likely breaking the law &can be sued,in your words, “on the spot.”
ALL workers in the US have the protected freedom to organize for better conditions.
See @NLRB &union orgs like @AFLCIO for tips. https://t.co/bU7WlHrp1d
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 13, 2019
Her complete ignorance when it came to Barstool Sports caused her to be blind to the fact that she was setting up a dream scenario for the savvy Portnoy. Sensing a golden content opportunity, he quickly fired back a challenge to the freshman congresswoman.
“Hey @aoc welcome to thunder dome,” Portnoy tweeted. “Debate me.”
Hey @aoc welcome to thunder dome. Debate me. https://t.co/XEmEvt12N4
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 13, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez ignored the challenge and offered one more tweet on the topic of unions.
Bosses don’t wield all the power. Workers have plenty – yet many don’t know it!
Study up &search the history of labor rights in America.
School doesn’t teach the history of the US labor mvmt,but we have weekends bc of it. & We risk losing rights if we forget how we earned them. https://t.co/Hla7r4grwi
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 13, 2019
Still, Portnoy already had what he needed. Barstool employees came out to defend him in droves, and he got to work milking the controversy for all the content it was worth.
A group of employees mocked the union hysteria with a (considerably vulgar, be warned) parody video that was posted to Bartsool website.
One employee defended the company by touting its health insurance plan.
If the blue check mark brigade saw our health insurance they would have a meltdown. I worked on close to 100 different mid sized group health plans for a good time. I’ve never seen an employer offer what Barstool gives us. But keep the advice coming. Please.
— Carl (@barstoolcarl) August 13, 2019
Another took issue with the aggressive nature of many union advocates.
So far unions seem like a lot of people you don’t know yelling at you that they know what’s best for you
— Feitelberg (@FeitsBarstool) August 13, 2019
And, because this story needed yet another unexpected character, Donald Trump Jr. took a shot at Ocasio-Cortez in defense of Barstool.
Picking a fight with @stoolpresidente and @barstoolsports is probably the biggest mistake @AOC has ever made on Twitter. https://t.co/hp7gF2DECc
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 13, 2019
Barstool is now selling Dave Portnoy “Union Buster” T-shirts for $28, which can’t be what Ocasio-Cortez had in mind when she spoke out.
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