Fellow Democrats tore into Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposed ban on the military using online gaming platforms for recruitment.
The New Yorker’s proposed restrictions will get a vote Thursday night in the House, pitting centrist Democrats against allies of AOC.
Democratic Rep. Max Rose, a 33-year-old Afghanistan War veteran who represents Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, said he’s outraged by the idea.
“This is incredibly insulting as it perpetuates the limousine liberal trope that soldiers are idiots who only get duped into enlisting,” Rose told The Post.
“That very disparagement follows veterans when they come home and struggle to find employment,” Rose said. “This amendment treats the military as some insidious organization, not a career choice that taught me — and millions of others — invaluable skills and an appreciation for the values and freedoms of our country.”
Ocasio-Cortez, a 30-year-old Democratic socialist, said on the House floor Thursday that “war is not a game” and that her proposal would ban the military from advertising on platforms such as Twitch.tv.
The congresswoman, who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, said war was “too serious to be game-ified.”
Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.) spoke against the ban.
“We ought to cast a very broad net to encourage young Americans to serve their country in the military — especially those I would point out living in Gary, Indiana, in disadvantaged communities, many of which don’t even know that opportunity exists,” he said.
Visclosky argued rules are in place to protect against improper recruitment efforts.
The US Army recently spent an estimated $1 million on the popular Twitch gaming platform.
In a statement this week, AOC said: “Whether through recruitment stations in their lunchrooms, or now through e-sports teams, children in low-income communities are persistently targeted for enlistment. In many public high schools where military recruiters have a daily presence, there is not even a counselor. As a result, the military stops feeling like a ‘choice’ and starts feeling like the only option for many young, low-income Americans.”
