Tim covered some of this over the weekend, but there were so many skirmishes in the Democrats' Great Online Battle of 2019 that we have a duty -- a moral obligation, really -- to chronicle it for posterity. This grudge match was simmering throughout last week, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi derisively downplaying the significance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her 'squad' of lefties. This prompted angry replies from AOC, who said she found it suspicious that Pelosi was "singling out" a handful of young "women of color." The race card played, Pelosi told reporters she was just standing up for her moderates, who'd been smeared as neo-confederates by AOC's chief of staff.
The New York freshman then tried to pretend she hadn't wielded race as a weapon, but suggested that Pelosi was putting Squad members in physical danger by criticizing them. The stage was set for a supernova of furious recriminations on both sides of the battle. And the salvos flew fast and furious. In no particular order, here are some of the quotes and insults that flew all weekend, starting with a Congressional Black Caucus member blasting AOC for playing the race card:
Rep. Lacy Clay just unloaded on @AOC , her chief of staff and Justice Democrats in the Speaker's Lobby, calls them "juvenile," says "their ignorance is beyond belief": "You’re getting push back so you resort to using the race card? Unbelievable."
— Jonathan Easley (@JonEasley) July 11, 2019
An AOC ally then appeared to fire back at several black members siding with Pelosi. She later denied that she was insinuating any form of race traitorism in a gibberish-filled statement, but the context looks pretty clear:
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
Were there threats and counter-threats involving primaries? You bet:
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"Primaries go two ways," @RepGregoryMeeks says of backing a potential primary challenge to @AOC.
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) July 13, 2019
“If someone picks a fight with somebody else, you fight back. That’s what my parents told me.” https://t.co/DcJqw8rAkl
The official House Democrats' twitter account excoriated AOC's chief of staff -- the admirer of a Nazi collaborator who just admitted that the 'Green New Deal' isn't really about the climate, but is a means of economic revolution -- for his accusation that a Democratic member and woman of color was enabling racism:
I’ve seen some political infighting in my day, ahem, but whoa. ?? pic.twitter.com/ruPOW7b2Ke
— Rory Cooper (@rorycooper) July 13, 2019
The left-wing 'Justice Democrats' were irate that the party was savaging one of their allies, pointing out that Speaker Pelosi had urged AOC and friends not to tweet negatively about fellow Democrats, yet the establishment wasn't abiding by the same rules. A coalition of far-Left groups put out a fiery statement accusing Pelosi and her allies of siding with Republicans against migrants and leveling insults against progressives:
NEW: Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, She The People, Indivisible, Democracy For America and a host of other progressive organizations release a new statement on the Squad/Pelosi drama saying it’s concerning that House leadership is focusing on that instead of Trump. https://t.co/Dk6tK7hKbZ pic.twitter.com/W2P9qu2Sp9
— Ryan Brooks (@ByRyanBrooks) July 13, 2019
But the progressives have routinely lobbed bombs at the party establishment. They're squealing now that they're getting hit back -- and pretty hard, at that:
NEW: on @justicedems plans to primary members, a senior Democratic source said: "
— Brooke Singman (@brookefoxnews) July 12, 2019
“No one is afraid of those nerds. They don't have the ability to primary anyone.”
For those curious, here's the image of the Super Mario Bros. Goomba the senior aide texted me pic.twitter.com/3tMFoYm6J1
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) July 12, 2019
More Dem-on-Dem trash talk: “Justice Democrats in general are trust fund kids who are funding this with their parents’ money.” https://t.co/DT3OU7hPdH
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) July 13, 2019
Those last two touched off quite a lot of outrage and umbrage from hardcore lefties -- with prominent figures from across the center-Left weighing in. Some journalists, upset over seeing their preferred party tearing itself apart, were openly fretting about the ugly feud. But on and on it went:
Everyone. Saw. This. Coming. pic.twitter.com/fgtV0rruyg
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) July 12, 2019
Has a House member’s staff ever publicly attacked a Speaker before? Even a Speaker of the opposing party? Doing this publicly with your name attached is new. Off the record & on background staff criticism has always been done. https://t.co/7f0fMh5Fup
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) July 12, 2019
.@RahmEmanuel told @maureendowd @aoc’s chief of staff, @saikatc, is “a snot-nosed punk” https://t.co/RS6ej0p3zs
— Eli Yokley (@eyokley) July 13, 2019
I'll leave you with some related wildness at the left-wing Netroots Nation conference, where Ilhan Omar encouraged progressive activists to boo the 220 House Democratic "hypocrites" who voted for the National Defense Authorization bill, while climate crusaders disrupted a DNC-sponsored panel:
Ilhan Omar: Don’t boo the person defending Assad with insane propaganda. Boo 220 House Democrats who voted for the US National Defense Authorization Act! pic.twitter.com/NJHy2bl73q
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 13, 2019
DNC panel on grassroots interrupted by protestors demanding a climate debate at Netroots.
— Philip Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) July 13, 2019
DNC official says they appreciate the discussion. pic.twitter.com/o8MSV3ieGY
That is not a "discussion," DNC official. Oh, and every single conservative in the country can only chuckle at this 'revelation' from New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd as she bashes AOC's identity politics warfare. This is how the Left has been operating against its opponents for many years:
MoDo brings it: “A.O.C. should consider the possibility that people who disagree with her do not disagree with her color.” https://t.co/E7wsquno4Q
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) July 13, 2019
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