Baseball Team Airs Video of ‘Enemies of Freedom’ – Ocasio-Cortez’s Face Flashes Across Screen

A minor-league baseball team apologized Monday for a video broadcast at its stadium that included Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., among the “enemies of freedom.”

Images of Fidel Castro, Kim Jong Un and members of antifa also flashed across the screen as President Ronald Reagan warned of the threat of communism. Over audio of Reagan delivering his first inaugural address in 1981 appeared patriotic photos and images honoring veterans.

The video was shown on the big screen between two games of a Class AAA Fresno Grizzlies’ doubleheader at Chukchansi Park. It was intended as a “moving tribute” to the armed forces for Memorial Day, according to the team.

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“A pre-produced video from outside our front office was selected; unfortunately what was supposed to be a moving tribute ended with some misleading and offensive editing, which made a statement that was not our intent and certainly not our opinion,” the Grizzlies, a minor-league affiliate of the Washington Nationals, said in a statement.

“We’re embarrassed we allowed this video to play without seeing it in its entirety first. We unconditionally apologize to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez 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.”

A team spokesman assured USA Today that the employee responsible for selecting the clip, which is available on YouTube, had been identified and expressed his remorse. The spokesman said the club will no longer broadcast videos from the internet.

However, Ocasio-Cortez made clear in a tweet Tuesday that she wasn’t ready to forgive and forget. She accused the Grizzlies of stoking dangerous hatred against her.

Is Ocasio-Cortez really one of the “enemies of freedom?”

While the team claimed to have erred in lumping in Ocasio-Cortez with socialist dictators, others have made the comparison on purpose.

In March, Washington Post “Fact Checker” Glenn Kessler faulted President Donald Trump and his administration for equating socialist-sympathizing Democrats like Ocasio-Cortez with communists.

Kessler’s column came in response to speeches delivered by Trump and his senior advisers at the Conservative Political Action Conference. The gist of their remarks was that the Democrats are pushing the same system that has proved ruinous for other nations.

“Socialism is not about the environment, it’s not about justice, it is not about virtue. Socialism is about only one thing: It’s called power for the ruling class,” Trump said during the event.

Not so, according to Kessler, who declared that socialism can be a good thing.

“President Trump and his allies apparently want Americans to believe there’s virtually little difference between the Nazis, the Soviet communists, the dictatorship of a crumbling Venezuela and the political organization linked to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.),” Kessler, in an article headlined “What Is Socialism?,” said. “But these are facile comparisons, ignorant of history.”

But Reagan might beg to differ.

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