Thanks to the high profiles of leftist congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the rest of “The Squad,” the Democratic Party finds itself having to defend their radical policy positions on everything from Israel to immigration, the electoral college, energy policy, and more.
That could bode ill for next year’s presidential election. Former Ohio state Sen. Capri Cafaro suggested Thursday that Omar and the rest of the squad need to “tone it down” because there’s a “race to run in 2020.”
The squad has taken over the Democratic Party
Cafaro appeared on Fox News’ “Outnumbered” Thursday, joining a discussion on how the squad — comprised of Reps. Omar, Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — are increasingly becoming the driving force behind the Democratic Party’s narrative.
Not only that, but a majority of Democrats — including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — appear to be quietly falling in line.
But Cafaro made it clear that “the squad” didn’t really represent her or the majority of her party, the Daily Caller reported. Watch below:
“They need to tone it down”
Following the assertions put forward by Republican strategist David Avella about “the squad’s” influence, Cafaro said, “You mentioned Democrats a number of times. First off, I am frustrated that — frankly, we talk about media bias a lot on this show. I think there is a strong media bias of making ‘the Squad’ and their views and painting those views on the rest of the party, of which we do not share and we do not hold.”
“Outnumbered” co-host Melissa Francis noted that the squad members seem to seek out the media spotlight, to which Cafaro replied, “The bottom line is, they do not represent the rest of us, and we need to do a better job, the rest of the Democrats …”
Francis interjected again to ask if Democrats needed to ask “the squad” to “pipe down.”
“Yeah … we need to do a few things,” Cafaro said. “They need to tone it down because we do have a race to run in 2020.”
“But we also need to be more vociferous about denouncing certain aspects” of the squad’s agenda, Cafaro said, such as the squad’s support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement that seeks to economically cripple the Jewish state. Cafaro noted that a recent vote in the House had made it clear that most Democrats did not support the BDS movement.
Why aren’t Democrats calling them out?
Cafaro further noted that, had she a member of Congress, she would have publicly condemned Omar’s anti-Semitism and chastised her colleagues who did not.
Asked by Francis why so few elected Democrats had done so, Cafaro surmised, “I think that part of it is because — because they are hogging the spotlight, that there is this fear that if you cross them you’re going to end up with ire amongst the crazy progressive base.”