AOC Promises ‘Out and Out Brawl’ After Harris Campaign Surrogate Mark Cuban Suggests Dumping Lina Khan

Photo by Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via AP Images (L)/ Ringo Chiu via AP (R)

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) promised an “out and out brawl” if “billionaire” Democratic Party supporters push Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Lina Khan as the chair of the Federal Trade Commission.

Ocasio-Cortez’s message came in response to Harris-Walz campaign surrogate Mark Cuban telling Semafor that he would not keep Khan in her position if he were in Harris’s shoes. The Shark Tank investor said he has not spoken to Harris or her advisors about Khan. Cuban criticized Khan taking on tech companies over artificial intelligence.

“The bigger picture is, she’s hurting more than she’s helping,” Cuban said.

Other Harris supporters like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Expedia Group chair Barry Diller have also been critical of Khan.

Cuban further explained his frustrations with Khan in posts to X, formerly Twitter, calling artificial intelligence a “zero sum race for global dominance.”

“This is about AI. It’s a zero sum race for global dominance,” he wrote. “If we lose, the consequences are far more than economic. We have multiple companies fighting to win this race. And that competition is moving everyone forward. Even with the insane amount of capital required.”

FTC spokesperson Doug Farrar responded to Cuban’s criticism by saying, “Chair Khan believes that choosing competition over centralized corporate control of markets is the path to letting the best ideas win.”

Ocasio-Cortez took to X to blast billionaires playing “footsie” with the Democratic Party’s ticket.

“Let me make this clear, since billionaires have been trying to play footsie with the ticket: Anyone goes near Lina Khan and there will be an out and out brawl. And that is a promise,” she wrote. “She proves this admin fights for working people. It would be terrible leadership to remove her.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also targeted Cuban over his take, praising Khan for “taking on corporate greed & illegal monopolies.” He called her the “best” FTC chair in “modern history.”

“[Mark Cuban] is wrong. Lina Khan is the best FTC Chair in modern history,” the senator wrote. “By taking on corporate greed & illegal monopolies, Lina is doing an exceptional job preventing large corporations from ripping-off consumers & exploiting workers.”