They’re everywhere.
Every day, one — or all — members of “The Squad” makes the headlines. The mainstream media are swooning over the newcomers to Congress, Reps. Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
Just last week, both Tlaib and Omar blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, garnering fulltime press coverage. They were promptly banned from entering the country before Israeli officials relented, bringing even more headlines.
Now, House Democrats reportedly plan retaliation against two top American and Israeli diplomats after the two lawmakers were banned. Senior Democrats are considering punitive action against Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, and David Friedman, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, McClatchy reported. That’ll keep the story alive another week.
On Sunday, Trump ripped “The Squad,” labeling the members as the “new face” of the Democratic Party.
“House Democrats want to take action against Israel because it is fighting back against two (maybe four) people that have said unthinkably bad things about it & the Israeli people. Dems have such disdain for Israel! What happened? AOC Plus 4 is the new face of the Democrat Party!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
On Friday, Trump sought to plant a seed of dissent among the four women, saying Ocasio-Cortez was jealous about the coverage Tlaib and Omar were receiving for their support of Palestinians.
“Like it or not, Tlaib and Omar are fast becoming the face of the Democrat Party. Cortez (AOC) is fuming, not happy about this!” he wrote.
Trump also hit Tlaib for grandstanding. After Israel granted her request to visit her grandmother, Tlaib announced she would not do so.
“Rep. Tlaib wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother. Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup. The only real winner here is Tlaib’s grandmother. She doesn’t have to see her now!” Trump wrote.
“Israel was very respectful & nice to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, allowing her permission to visit her grandmother. As soon as she was granted permission, she grandstanded & loudly proclaimed she would not visit Israel. Could this possibly have been a setup? Israel acted appropriately!”
Trump has been working hard to make the four women the face of the Democratic Party. Last month, Trump wrote on Twitter: “The Dems were trying to distance themselves from the four progressives, but now they are forced to embrace them. That means they are endorsing Socialism, hate of Israel and the USA! Not good for the Democrats!”
The president’s attacks on “The Squad” forced top Democrats to defend the most extreme members of their party. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the four lawmakers on the fringe of the party “our sisters.”
“The fact is, as offended as we are — and we are offended by what he said about our sisters — he says that about people every day, and they feel as hurt as we do about somebody in our family having this offense against them,” the California Democrat said.
A White House official told The Daily Mail after The Squad held a rambling press conference that Trump “couldn’t have scripted this any better. They warned against taking the bait, and then they took the bait. Now they’re the party of AOC, and that won’t end well.”