The Ohio College Republican Federation on Wednesday night apologized for labeling Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) a “domestic terrorist” in a group fundraising email, saying that they did not “approve of the message.”
“The OCRF does not condone the unauthorized email sent out in our name,” the group said in a statement on Twitter.
“We apologize to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez for the use of unacceptable language in this email, and we do not approve of the message conveyed.”
{mosads}The group issued the statement just hours after Public Integrity reported that it had referred to Ocasio-Cortez as a “domestic terrorist” in the subject line of a fundraising email that slammed socialism.
“My peers are being brainwashed on a daily basis by Marxist professors who hate America and capitalism,” the email read, according to a screenshot. “My fellow students often tell me that Ocasio-Cortez is a ‘role model’ and that America should be more like socialist Europe. We need your help to stop the brainwashing!”
Ocasio-Cortez denounced the group over the email, saying that accusations like these put her in “danger.”
“Almost every time this uncalled for rhetoric gets blasted by conservative groups, we get a spike in death threats to refer to Capitol Police,” she said on Twitter.
“Multiple ppl have been arrested trying to harm me, Ilhan, & others,” she added, referring specifically to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). “@GOP, what’s it going to take to stop?”
Ocasio-Cortez has spoken out before about the threats of violence she and other lawmakers have received. She claimed earlier this week that Fox News host Jeanine Pirro’s disparaging remarks about Omar helped lead to a man allegedly making a death threat against the congresswoman.
Time magazine reported in March that U.S. Capitol Police trained Ocasio-Cortez’s office on how to properly perform risk assessments due to the number of death threats she has received.