Shots are still being fired in the fight over Amazon’s canceled Queens campus.
The battleground du jour? Times Square, where a billboard blaming Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Amazon’s withdrawal from New York went up Wednesday.
The billboard reads “AMAZON PULLOUT, Thanks For Nothing AOC,” and lays the “25,000 lost NYC jobs,” “$4 billion in lost wages,” and “$12 billion in lost economic activity” on the freshman Congresswoman’s shoulders.
Check out the sign in Times Sq.! Thanks to @JobCreatorsUSA! pic.twitter.com/iIN0DTo8r2
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) February 20, 2019
A business association called the Job Creators Network paid for the billboard, claiming Amazon pulled out of its New York plans “because of anti-business politicians, notably Ocasio-Cortez,” in a statement.
Ocasio-Cortez fired back on Twitter.
Few things effectively communicate the power we’ve built in fighting dark money & anti-worker policies like billionaire-funded groups blowing tons of cash on wack billboards (this one is funded by the Mercers).
(PS fact that it’s in Times Sq tells you this isn’t for/by NYers.) https://t.co/B4QTPi1r2k
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 21, 2019
She added a tweet with a screenshot from Wikipedia that raises questions about the Job Creators Network’s agenda.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 21, 2019
The Mercers are a wealthy family that donates to conservative politicians and campaigns. The family has donated to the Job Creators Alliance though it isn’t clear how much the organization relies on the Mercers, as Business Insider reports.
On Feb. 14, Amazon canceled plans for the 25,000-person New York office the company was going to build as one-half of its vaunted “HQ2.” Although Amazon blamed “a number of state and local politicians” who vowed to fight the deal, it did not mention federal lawmakers like Ocasio-Cortez. But she did raise questions about the deal as local officials mounted a resistance to Amazon.
When the company pulled out of the deal, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world.”
