New York freshman Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took aim at Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy on Twitter Tuesday, over workers rights and organized labor.
The trouble started after Portnoy began tweeting about the recent efforts of employees at The Ringer — a sports site in competition with Barstool — to unionize.
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
That tweet drew a response by Rafi Letzter, a journalist and union member.
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 made it clear that none of his employee’s should follow Letzter’s advice.
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
Sensing that the moment was ripe for her to interject herself into a debate that did not involve her, Ocasio-Cortez launched a broadside at Portnoy.
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
Portnoy responded by immediately challenging Ocasio-Cortez to debate.
Hey @aoc welcome to thunder dome. Debate me. https://t.co/XEmEvt12N4
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 13, 2019
The New York Democrat did not specifically address Portnoy’s challenge, instead, she tweeted around it by reasserting the power of workers in relation to their employers.
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
Barstool did not stay quiet, however. The site posted a story about the social media confrontation, titled: AOC vs. Dave ‘The Union Crusher’ Portnoy.
“Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez vs. El Presidente, the fight you never knew how badly you needed it until it was right in front of your face,” the piece read. “Schedule the debate!”
As of the time of this writing, Ocasio-Cortez still has not responded to Portnoy.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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