Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts has been caught up in an intraparty dispute with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over a border funding vote, but Tuesday she turned her attention outward to White House adviser Kellyanne Conway.
The Trump administration official had referred to the conflict between Pelosi and the congressional “Squad” of Pressley and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar, as a “major ‘meow moment,’ ” and repeated that remark in a tweet Tuesday, suggesting the Democrats were involved in a “catfight.”
That rubbed Pressley the wrong way.
.@KellyannePolls oh hi Distraction Becky. Remember that time your boss tore babies from their mothers’ arms and threw them in cages? Yeah take a seat and keep my name out of your lying mouth. https://t.co/dS8saIssX8
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) July 9, 2019
The four congressional newcomers were the only Democrats to vote “no” to a border funding bill that passed in the House at the end of June — they said they couldn’t “in good conscience” support a bill that sent funds to Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Pressley, along with Ocasio-Cortez, Joe Kennedy III, and a larger group of representatives, visited migrant detention camps in Texas at the beginning of the month and slammed the conditions of the facilities.
Conway has accused Democrats of using dead migrant children as “political pawns” and without basis, referred to Ocasio-Cortez as a “liar” for saying that detained migrants were told to drink from toilets.
Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib both echoed Pressley’s retort to Conway, sending tweets of support for their peer.
Trust me when I say you don’t want to get caught in @AyannaPressley’s righteous fire🔥
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 10, 2019
Kellyanne is way over her head defending caging children & families in conditions that have killed almost 30 people on her admin’s watch.
She may play games with people’s lives, but we don’t. https://t.co/7LDphWno2J
📢 oh snap. https://t.co/RpGdbLG56E
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) July 10, 2019
Peter Bailey-Wells can be reached at peter.bailey-wells@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @pbaileywells.