Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is hitting back at a critical billboard funded by a conservative group that was displayed in Times Square on Wednesday.
The billboard blames Ocasio-Cortez for Amazon’s decision to back out of its plans to open part of its second headquarters, called HQ2, in Queens.
“Few things effectively communicate the power we’ve built in fighting dark money & anti-worker policies like billionaire-funded groups blowing tons of cash on wack billboards (this one is funded by the Mercers),” the lawmaker tweeted late Wednesday.
“PS fact that it’s in Times Sq tells you this isn’t for/by NYers.”
She noted that the Job Creators Network, which funded the billboard, is tied to the Mercer Family Foundation, run by top GOP donor and Breitbart investor Rebekah Mercer.
{mosads}The billboard, which will be displayed in Times Square for one week, says that Amazon’s reversal will cost the city thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in lost wages and economic activity.
“Thanks For Nothing, AOC!” the sign reads. Ocasio-Cortez was vocal in her support of local activists who opposed Amazon’s move to the city.
Amazon, which planned to split its second headquarters between Northern Virginia and Queens, cited local opposition as their reason for pulling out of the project.
Ocasio-Cortez in a second tweet referred to the sitcom “The Office,” comparing the billboard to character Michael Scott’s trip to New York.
“Billionaires paying to put up anti-progressive propaganda in Times Square is like the obscenely rich version of the scene where Michael Scott points to the Bubba Gump and saying ‘This is it, this is the heart of civilization, right here,’” she tweeted.