Democratic Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez He sparked controversy on Twitter after criticizing a Christian advertising campaign, saying it put a positive spin on “fascism”;.
“Something tells me Jesus wouldn’t be spending millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads to make fascism look benign,” Ocasio-Cortez told her more than 13.4 million Twitter followers.
She was responding to a Christian advertising campaign called “He Gets Us” funded by the same family behind the craft store chain Hobby Lobby.
AOC criticizes Christian Super Bowl ads, says Jesus won’t fund ads to ‘bless fascism’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y, speaks during a rally for immigration provisions to be included in the Build Back Better Act outside the US Capitol on December 7, 2021, in Washington. (Drew Anger / Getty Images)
Multimillion-dollar campaign buys two ad spots Super Bowl Sunday and divided viewers, some of whom said the “Jesus” depicted in the ads was a “worldly” one.
But Ocasio-Cortez faulted the political leanings of the ads, one of which showed protesters on the right and left fighting over issues like pandemic lockdowns.
Conservative and liberal political commentators criticized the congressman for labeling the ad campaign as “fascism”.
Super Bowl ‘Jesus’ ads inspire mixed reaction on Twitter: from ‘too cute’ to ‘pretty cringe’
Lee Ziemba, a former Auburn University football player, summarized Ocasio-Cortez’s argument.
“Is loving your enemy the equivalent of fascism?” Zimba asked, tweeting a crying-laughing emoji. “You’re a genius!” He has written.
Attorney Eric Owens said Ocasio-Cortez was missing the entire point of the commercial.
“Here’s your take from a great Super Bowl ad that reminds us of a truth, universal to all religions and all knowledge, that hate is bad?” Owens said. “Are you serious? You’ve jumped the shark. Probably, an intern is writing your tweets when you wear a fancy dress to the Super Bowl ball.”
“Are you a theologian now? What can’t you do?” another user asked the Congressmen.
Musician Michael Badal was critical of what he called “Christian nationalism”, but said that Ocasio-Cortez was wrong in her interpretation of the ad campaign.
“You really missed the mark on this,” he wrote. “That ad was in protest against the Christian nationalism that is consuming our country.”
Two Jesus ads to be featured at Super Bowl as part of ‘He Gets Us’ campaign
Actor Ben Affleck is seen serving donuts and coffee at a Dunkin’ Donuts location in Medford, Massachusetts (Lisa McKay / Lifestyle / TMX)
Celebrities featured especially heavily in this year’s Super Bowl commercials, with the actor Ben Affleck ad for Dunkin’ Donuts receiving high praise from fans online.
Affleck acted in a TV spot at a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru in Massachusetts, during which his wife, actress Jennifer Lopezasked him what he was doing.
“What are you doing?” he asked in the ad. “Do you do it when you say you’re going to work all day?”
Fox News’ Nicholas Lannum, Lindsey Kornick and Landon Mione contributed to this report.
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