During Thursday night's Democratic presidential debate, ABC ran an ad purchased by a Republican political action committee that featured, among many things, a photo of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's face being lit on fire and burning away.

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The ad from the New Faces PAC is narrated by a woman named Elizabeth Heng, who ran to represent California's 16th congressional district in 2018 and lost. She also worked on President Trump's inaugural committee. According to Slate, during her run, it was once suggested that Heng could be "an Ocasio-Cortez for the GOP" since she is a young woman of color whose parents are refugees.

However, the ad in question links Ocasio-Cortez's calls for democratic socialism to the mass genocidal violence that occurred in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime. In the video, Heng says: "Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez know the horror of socialism? My father was minutes from death in Cambodia before a forced marriage saved his life. That’s socialism. Forced obedience. Starvation. Mine is a face of freedom. My skin is not white. I’m not outrageous, racist, or socialist. I’m a Republican."

The comparison is especially shocking when you consider the numerous death threats Ocasio-Cortez has received in the past, along with other progressive congresswomen in her "squad," including Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Ocasio-Cortez responded to the ad on Twitter, calling out Republicans for claiming they're not racist by burning the photo of a Latina congresswoman:

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Republicans are running TV ads setting pictures of me on fire to convince people they aren’t racist.



Life is weird! — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 13, 2019

She then described the ad as a "love letter to the GOP’s white supremacist case," and Heng responded saying she was just "calling all Democrats out for supporting an evil ideology."

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Know that this wasn’t an ad for young conservatives of color - that was the pretense.



What you just watched was a love letter to the GOP’s white supremacist case. https://t.co/zvp1EB02c5 — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 13, 2019

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Not Republicans. Me. Are you really calling me a racist @aoc? I’m calling all Democrats out for supporting an evil ideology. Or are you just in Congress to hang out with celebrities and tweet out ridiculous ideas like the green new deal? https://t.co/w985LYjIZd — Elizabeth Heng (@ElizabethHeng) September 13, 2019

According to The Cut, on Thursday night, ABC also aired an ad from NumbersUSA, an anti-immigration organization. After seeing the New Faces ad, many on Twitter expressed their anger with the hashtag #BoycottABC:

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@ABC - this ad should never have been allowed on tv - and should have been reported as a death threat. Who in their right mind would think this was ok?? #BoycottABC — Shawn Steadham (@bichonsandabc) September 13, 2019

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ABC allowed this as to run tonight.



A U.S. Congresswoman being set on fire.#BoycottABC



pic.twitter.com/HCW6ilahkg — Joshua Potash (@JoshuaPotash) September 13, 2019

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Republicans and @abc decided to burn AOC in effigy on national television.



But America doesn't have a racism problem. 😐



#BoycottABC — Lady Farmer of the Dark Shadows 👒😷 (@djmincey11) September 13, 2019

According to the New Faces website, its goal is to draw in "candidate from all races, ethnicities, gender, or geography" to the Republican party, seemingly by proving they're not racist. But with this particular ad, featuring imagery and language counter to its purpose, it seems to be doing the opposite.

Madison Feller Madison is a staff writer at ELLE.com, covering news, politics, and culture.

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