Trump stepped into the feud between Pelosi and progressive Democrats with Twitter insults


The feud between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and progressive Democratic newcomers — particularly Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — does not seem to be subsiding. And President Trump has apparently picked a side.
The tensions have been bubbling for quite some time, but rose to the surface after a clash over a border funding bill. Pelosi called for compromise, but the progressives refused to cede any ground to the GOP. Since then, Pelosi and Ocasio-Cortez have traded barbs.
The New York Times' Maureen Dowd defended Pelosi. In a column published on Saturday she wrote that some of the progressives act as if anyone who disagrees with them is "guilty of some human failing, some impurity that is a moral evil that justifies their own venom."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Guardian's Arwa Mahdawi disagreed, arguing that Pelosi was focusing her criticism on the wrong crowd, as "America grows increasingly brazen in its bigotry." Mahdawi wrote that Pelosi is really just trying to maintain the status quo.
On Sunday morning another voice jumped into the debate — the president's. Trump tweeted that the progressive democratic congresswomen "should go back and help fix the the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." He added that he's sure Pelosi "would be very happy to work out free travel arrangements."
Trump's criticisms make little sense, however, if he is indeed talking about the aforementioned congresswomen. While it's true Omar was born in Somalia, she has lived in the U.S. since age 12 and is a citizen. Meanwhile, Pressley was born in Cincinnati, Tlaib in Detroit, and Ocasio-Cortez in New York.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
5 fundamentally funny cartoons about the US Constitution
Cartoons Artists take on Sharpie edits, wear and tear, and more
-
In search of paradise in Thailand's western isles
The Week Recommends 'Unspoiled spots' remain, providing a fascinating insight into the past
-
The fertility crisis: can Trump make America breed again?
Talking Point The self-styled 'fertilisation president', has been soliciting ideas on how to get Americans to have more babies
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment