News

A Minor-League Baseball Team Is Sorry About That Video With AOC and Kim Jong Un

She was featured in a Memorial Day tribute video that played a speech by Ronald Reagan over a montage of images.
A Minor-League Baseball Team Is Sorry It Compared AOC to Kim Jong Un

This is an actual controversy and not a game of Mad Libs gone awry: A minor-league baseball team is apologizing for showing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as an enemy of freedom in a Memorial Day tribute video that had her right in there with Kim Jong Un.

California’s Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies, a minor-league affiliate of the Washington Nationals, broadcast a video between games at a doubleheader Monday that played a speech by Ronald Reagan over a montage of images. When Reagan mentioned “enemies of freedom,” the slideshow featured images of the North Korean dictator Kim, former Cuban President Fidel Castro, black-flag anarchists, and a certain famous freshman congresswoman from the Bronx.

Advertisement

The team issued a statement late Monday that called the video’s editing “misleading and offensive.” It’s unclear who exactly made the video, but the team said it was a “pre-produced video from outside our front office.” The team also issued an apology directly to Ocasio-Cortez.

"We're embarrassed we allowed this video to play without seeing it in its entirety first," the Grizzlies wrote on Twitter. "We unconditionally apologize to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) in addition to our fans, community and those we hurt. It was a mistake and we will ensure that nothing like it ever happens again."

Ocasio-Cortez herself has yet to respond to the video. A spokesman for the Grizzlies told USA TODAY that the person who played video apparently just pulled it from YouTube (you can watch it here.) The employee has expressed remorse, the team has not indicated that there will be any punishment. But they will cease playing videos pulled from the internet going forward.

Cover: Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., addresses The Road to the Green New Deal Tour final event at Howard University in Washington, Monday, May 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)