BAD BLOOD

House Democratic Caucus Publicly Chides AOC’s Chief of Staff

“Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color?”

The House Democratic Caucus publicly blasted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) chief of staff on Friday night amid an ongoing feud between House leadership and a group of progressive members including the freshman congresswoman. The official House Democrats Twitter account singled out Saikat Chakrabarti for a tweet he made last month suggesting Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS), a Native American, had voted in such a way that would “enable a racist system.” “Who is this guy and why is he explicitly singling out a Native American woman of color? 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,” the House Democratic Caucus tweeted. Chakrabarti responded by saying he is “not interested in substance-less Twitter spats” while “our Democracy is literally falling apart.”

The back-and-forth comes after Chakrabarti sparked the ire of several Democrats last month by describing those who voted for a border funding bill that lacked certain protections for migrants as “hell bent to do to black and brown people today what the old Southern Democrats did in the 40s.” Ocasio-Cortez then went on to accuse House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of “persistently singling out … newly elected women of color,” which only fanned the flames further. Tensions grew so high after that Pelosi had reportedly scolded members of the party on Thursday and told them to keep the drama off social media, though that apparently did not stop the feuding from spilling out onto Twitter late Friday.

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Allison QuinnNews Editor

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