House Representative William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) criticized the suggestion that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is picking on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and her “squad” because they are all minority women – Cortez and Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).
“It was such a weak argument to say she was being picked on and that four women of color were being picked on by the Speaker,” said Clay, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, in remarks given to Fox News on July 11. “It tells you the level of ignorance to American history on their part as to what we are as the Democratic Caucus.”
On July 10, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez had criticized Speaker Pelosi, telling the Washington Post, “the persistent singling out [by Pelosi] — it got to a point where it was just outright disrespectful — the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.”
In further reaction to those remarks, on Thursday Clay had said, “What a weak argument [by Cortez] — because you can’t get your way and because you’re getting pushback you resort to using the race card? Unbelievable. That’s unbelievable to me.”
“I could care less,” he said. “I could really care less. I agree with the Speaker. Four people, four votes out of 240 people, who cares.”
Clay’s comments come on the heels of reported tension between the left-wing Democrats such as Pelosi and the far-left Democrats/socialists, such as Cortez and her so-called “crew.” The Fabian socialist policies of Pelosi apparently are not being implemented quickly enough for people like Cortez.
In late June, Cortez’s chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, released a tweet that compared “New Democrats and Blue Dog Caucus” to the Southern Democrats of the 1940s. Although Chakrabarti eventually deleted the tweet, it stated, “Instead of ‘fiscally conservative but socially liberal,’ let’s call the New Democrats and Blue Dog Caucus the ‘New Southern Democrats.’ They certainly seem hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did in the 1940s.”
In a revised tweet on June 27, Chakrabarti wrote, “Anyway I deleted the tweet since, yeah, I’m mad. But I do think if we don’t have progress on racial justice it will be because of the new Dems and blue dogs. Just like in 1940.”
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