AOC calls out Barstool founder for 'likely breaking the law' in anti-union statement
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is not holding back in response to Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy's latest tweets.
Portnoy, who has previously expressed an animus toward unions, recently learned that employees of the Ringer, a sports and pop culture website founded by sportswriter Bill Simmons, wanted to unionize. He responded by tweeting a link to an old rant of his on the subject.
This prompted a response from Live Science writer Rafi Letzter, who offered up his advice to any Barstool employees who were interested in learning about unionization.
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 (@rafi_dot_net) August 13, 2019
In turn, Portnoy responded by threatening to fire any of his employees who took Letzter up on his offer — which many have deemed inappropriate, if not illegal.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a staunch defender of workers' rights, was among those who took issue with Portnoy's threat, and called Portnoy out with a tweet of her own:
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
Twitter erupted over the unlikely feud between the two, and Portnoy took advantage of the publicity by challenging Ocasio-Cortez to a debate.
Hey @aoc welcome to thunder dome. Debate me. https://t.co/XEmEvt12N4
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 13, 2019
While an actual debate occurring between the two is unlikely, stranger things have happened on Twitter.