Drew Dixon
A party leader is criticizing two Florida Democrats with long-shot campaigns for U.S. Congressional seats for unauthorized use of material in their advertisements.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known as AOC in political pop culture, is the U.S. Representative for New York’s 14th Congressional District, taking Gay Valimont and Josh Weil to task. Valimont is seeking Florida’s 1st Congressional District seat that Matt Gaetz held in the Panhandle until he resigned in November after President Donald Trump nominated Gaetz for U.S. Attorney General. Gaetz resigned from his congressional seat but then withdrew his name from the nomination after he had resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives.
Weil is running for Florida’s 6th Congressional District in and surrounding the Space Coast. As recently as Friday, his Republican competitor Randy Fine called for his arrest because one of his campaign workers was distributing campaign flyers on a stolen bicycle. That congressional seat is up for a special election on April 1 after Republican Michael Waltz vacated it to become Trump’s National Security Advisor.
In a social media post on the X platform this weekend, Ocasio-Cortez said neither Valimont nor Weil had permission to take excerpts from the New York Democrat’s 92-minute Instagram speech recorded in February. The two Florida Democrats were using Ocasio-Cortez’s Instagram address to raise funds for their campaigns in the Sunshine State.
“Fyi, this is being run as an ad without my consent. I’m not personally involved in any races right now,” Ocasio-Cortez said in an X post dated Saturday.
David Hogg, the Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, has been involved in the inner-party flap. Hogg, who is from Florida and one of the survivors of the school shooting in Parkland in 2018, said he has advised the Florida Democrats to back off.
“The campaign hasn’t been approving this type of content – it’s this consultant who’s running this without anyone’s consent,” Hogg said in an X post, adding he has sent a cease-and-desist order to the political fundraising consultants on the campaign.
Hogg singled out fundraising adviser Jackson McMillan for the unauthorized use of the Ocasio-Cortez material.
“I’m done dealing with these a**holes, and it’s time they start being called out. Everyone says f*** the consultants but won’t name names. Jackson is one of many,” Hogg said in his X post.
While Valimont is up for the special election on April 1 for the vacant Gaetz seat, current Florida Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Patronis is the favorite to win.
6 comments
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March 16, 2025 at 4:41 pm
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TJC
March 16, 2025 at 4:45 pm
This is a good example of how unorganized the Democrat Party is today. Instead of quietly discussing the unauthorized use of her words in their campaigns, AOC spanked two fellow Democrats in public, with Hogg joining in for no apparent good reason. She says she’s “not personally involved in any races right now,” as if that excuses a lack of discretion and lack of any support for members of her own party who only want to become Democrat members of congress representing Florida. Much needed representation.
I’ve never understood why anyone would vote for the chaotic craziness of Trump or Gaetz, and now the Democrats are showing that they can be crazy and self-serving, too. And while it’s true that an endorsement from AOC wouldn’t help these two Democrats in those two Florida districts, you can bet her public spanking of them will be put into play from the opposition.
Wendy
March 16, 2025 at 4:55 pm
Idiots quoting the Queen of idiots. Too darn funny. No wonder the authoritarian leftist are polling at historic lows. Please, please keep the stupidity coming!
G man
March 16, 2025 at 7:21 pm
Who cares? The Gop is going to win both these races by comfortable margins….
Bill Pollard
March 16, 2025 at 7:55 pm
This could have been handled more tactfully. A call to each of the candidates or their campaign managers would have been more appropriate. At that point something could have been sorted out instead of all this.
Peachy
March 16, 2025 at 9:37 pm
AOC and David Hogg. Two peas in a pod. They should run as Pres and VP candidates. I endorse those two lib idiots.🤣