New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized a Super Bowl commercial advertising Christianity as "fascism".
"He Gets Us," an initiative of the Servant Foundation run by a "diverse group of people passionate about the authentic Jesus of the Bible," ran two commercials during Sunday's Super Bowl game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
The first 30-second spot, which aired during the game's first quarter, featured black and white children playing together as the narrator says "Jesus didn’t want us to act like adults."
Country singer Patsy Cline’s "If I Could See The World [Through The Eyes of a Child]" plays in the background as the narrator continues, "He gets us. All of us. Be childlike."
The 60-second spot, which aired during in the fourth quarter, showed a series of images of people arguing in what appears to be a protest as the words "Jesus loved the people we hate" appear on screen at the end. The narrator says, "He gets us. All of us."
"Something tells me Jesus would *not* spend millions of dollars on Super Bowl ads to make fascism look benign," the New York representative tweeted.
Twitter users were critical of the New York representative's response to the advertisement.
"It is entirely unsurprising that [AOC] would equate a message of promoting unity with “fascism”. Because clearly that Super Bowl ad promoted fascism," said lawyer and podcaster Viva Frei.
"AOC: Christianity = 'fascism,'" said another user.
Other users suggested the New York representative either didn't understand the definition of fascism or was misrepresenting the term regarding the advertisement.
Ocasio-Cortez also commented on Twitter owner Elon Musk and Fox News creator Rupert Murdoch's appearance in the crowd during the Super Bowl saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."
Hobby Lobby founder and devout Christian David Green, one of the biggest funders of the campaign, said the group seeks to reach the largest audience of the year.
"You’re going to see it at the Super Bowl—'He Gets Us,'" he told Glenn Beck during a Nov. 29 broadcast last year. "We are wanting to say—we being a lot of people—that He gets us," Green said. "He understands us. He loves who we hate. I think we have to let the public know and create a movement."
He Gets Us campaign spokesperson Jason Vanderground said the advertisement fits their target audience "really well," noting the group was "trying to get the message across to people who are spiritually open, but skeptical," in a statement to the Associated Press.
"Selling chips is cool, selling light beers, all of that stuff is awesome," he continued. "I enjoy consuming all those things. There’s something about figuring out the way that we treat fellow human beings that we think is just a profound activity to occur during the Super Bowl."
"He Gets Us" was originally introduced in 2022 and has run advertisements during a variety of sporting events in American cities.
The campaign's website features terms that include "#Activist," "#Justice," and "#Struggle," among others.
