The border crisis appears to have inched the Democratic Party towards another episode of internal strife. Civil war? Well, I’m not so sure about that, but it’s been getting pretty nasty. The House passed a $4.6 billion border package that included strings attached, aimed at curbing immigration enforcement. This was pie-in-the-sky. Trump would never sign it, though he did sign the Senate bill into law, which provided the same funding but without the trash provisions against enforcing the law. It was also overwhelmingly bipartisan. Moderate House Democrats and Pelosi signed off on the Senate bill, which infuriated the far left. The Squad, as they’re called, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), are all part of this unholy alliance. They’re the face of the growing far-left contingent in the House. Pelosi has taken swipes at their agenda, which has not been well received. AOC hasn’t spoken to Pelosi in weeks and this crew dishes it right back. It reached new heights when AOC pretty much accused Pelosi of racism, saying her criticism in targeting women of color in her caucus was disrespectful.
Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color?
— House Democrats (@HouseDemocrats) July 13, 2019
Her name is Congresswoman Davids, not Sharice.
She is a phenomenal new member who flipped a red seat blue.
Keep????Her????Name????Out????Of????Your????Mouth. pic.twitter.com/k4sV5hsbQl
Now, we have AOC’s chief of staff going after fellow Democrats, saying their votes “enable a racist system.” Whatever that means. It did not sit well with House Democrats who clapped back. At Netroots Nation, a far left wing conference, Pressley picked up the ball, pretty much saying that those who support Pelosi are race traitors for lack of a better term:
Netroots panel kicking off w @IlhanMN: "There’s a constant struggle with people who have power about sharing that power. And we are not really in the business of asking to share that power; we are in the business of grabbing that power to return it to the people."
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 13, 2019
Up next, @AyannaPressley says that she is fed up with "palace intrigue," not much mystery about what she means.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 13, 2019
The panel is moderated by @aimeeallison, who is not interested in litigating Tweet Tweek, though she nodded at it in her intro. Moving conversation to child separation. @RashidaTlaib:"This is a whole generation of children who will never forget what our nation did to them."
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 13, 2019
.@AyannaPressley: "What is happening in these ICE facilities where they pilot how they can abuse privacy rights, how they can abuse human rights, and they scale that up." But notes that black and brown people disproportionately work for CBP.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 13, 2019
"They are now a cog in this machine of oppression of people who look just like them."
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 13, 2019
Quoting what a colleague said to her, @IlhanMN: "If there were dogs in those cages, every single member of Congress would vote to make sure those cages didn’t exist."
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 13, 2019
Moderator brings up impeachmnt with @RashidaTlaib: "We're gonna impeach the MFer, don't worry," she says.
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 13, 2019
Omar is recounting her questioning of Elliot Abrams in the Foreign Affairs committee: "[Knowing] the trail of blood that he has left in South and Central America. I wasn’t about to let him come and talk to us about what he was doing in Venezuela."
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 13, 2019
Pressley seeming to hit back at the criticism from the CBC et al: "We don’t need any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice. We don’t need any more black voices that don’t want to be a black voice."
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) July 13, 2019
A member of AOC’s squad picks up where AOC’s Chief of Staff left off, strongly hinting that African American & Hispanic members of the Democratic congressional caucus aren’t black or brown enough if they support Pelosi’s agenda. https://t.co/HzmS5NPgFN
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) July 13, 2019
The claws are out. Grab the popcorn. There is nothing more riveting that Democrats ripping each other apart.
Rep Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) “We don’t need any more brown faces that don’t want to be a brown voice. We don’t need black faces that don’t want to be a black voice. We don’t need Muslims that don’t want to be a Muslim voice. We don’t need queers that don’t want to be a queer voice” pic.twitter.com/2NIj5Vvcor
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) July 15, 2019