Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley are now offering T-shirts that read “We are the squad” in exchange for a shared donation of $25 or more.
The four congresswoman have become known as “The squad” on Capitol Hill for their shared progressive values. They’ve been caught up in controversy since Nancy Pelosi belittled them in a comment to the New York Times earlier this month, saying “All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world, but they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”
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Attention surrounding the four congresswomen increased yet again when President Trump tweeted on Sunday urging the four women of color to “go back” to the countries they “originally came from.”
Since then, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib, and Pressley have come forward standing up to both Pelosi and Trump’s comments. In a press conference on Monday, Pressley, with Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib behind her, addressed the crowd. “We are grateful for your solidarity, your encouragment and your support in the face of the most recent xenophobic, bigoted remarks from the occupant of our White House,” she said, referring to Trump’s tweets.
She went on, addressing Pelosi’s comments as well, “We are more than four people… Our squad is big. Our squad includes any person committed to building a more equitable and just world.”
Since then, supporters of the congresswomen have been tweeting their support for “the squad,” including Congressman Bill Pascrell, who responded to an Onion article on Twitter titled “82-Year-Old New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell Quietly Asks Ilhan Omar If He Can Be Part Of The Squad,” with “Well. How bout it,” tagging the four congresswomen.
An email blast from Ocasio-Cortez’s team on Tuesday read: “You are a part of the Squad. The Squad has never just been four people—it’s always been every person in the movement for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice in the United States,” and included a link to the T-shirts.
