AOC raises a ruckus over two Florida Democrats in Congressional races use her material without permission

Two Florida Democrats with long-shot campaigns for U.S. Congressional seats are taking heat from a national leader of the party for the unauthorized use of material in their advertisements.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC in political pop culture, is the U.S. Representative  for New York’s 14th Congressional District, is taking Gay Valimont and Josh Weil to task. Valimont is seeking Florida’s 1st Congressional District seat that was held by Matt Gaetz in the Panhandle until he resigned in November after President Donald Trump nominated Gaetz for U.S. Attorney General. Gaetz resigned 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 U.S. Congressional District in and surrounding the Space Coast and as recent 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 April 1 after Republican Michael Waltz vacated it to become National Security Advisor for Trump.

Ocasio-Cortez in a social media post on the X platform this weekend said neither Valimont or Weil had permission to take excerpts from the New York Democrat’s Instagram speech that lasted 92 minutes 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 gotten 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 advisor Jackson McMillan for the unauthorized use of the 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 the up for the special election in April 1 for the vacant Gaetz seat, the favorite to win the seat is current Florida Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Patronis.

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