'The Squad' revives feud with Pelosi: Be aware when you 'single us out' that we're 'women of color'

The four progressive congresswomen who are currently in a nasty feud with President Trump offered a not-so-subtle warning to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, the next time she "singles them out."
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich, Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass, often referred to as "The Squad," sat down with "CBS This Morning" host Gayle King on Tuesday as the House voted to formally condemn Trump over tweets that Democrats labeled as racist.
King asked the congresswomen if they've been in contact with Pelosi.
"Our teams are in communication," Ocasio-Cortez responded.
"But shouldn't you be meeting face-to-face?" King asked.
"She's the new member, not the speaker," Tlaib interjected. "She has every right to sit down with her at any moment, any time with any of us. She is Speaker of the House. She can ask for a meeting to sit down with us for clarification."
Tlaib continued, "Acknowledge the fact that we are women of color, so when you do single us out, be aware of that and what you're doing, especially because some of us are getting death threats, because some of us are being singled out because of our backgrounds, because of our experiences and so forth."
King followed up with Ocasio-Cortez, asking if she was "interested in having a conversation" with Pelosi, which Ocasio-Cortez responded, "Absolutely."
Last week, the four congresswomen had an ongoing public spat with Pelosi, which got very heated after Ocasio-Cortez suggested that the speaker was "singling out" them because they were "women of color." Pelosi previously dismissed their vocal opposition to the House's approval for border funding.
Their feud, however, seemed to have evaporated on Sunday after Trump targeted them on Twitter, suggesting they should "go back" to the countries they came from despite how three of the four congresswomen were born in the U.S. and all four of them are U.S. citizens.
Trump's tweets were formally condemned by the House, resulting in a 240-187 vote. Four Republican lawmakers joined the Democrats, including Reps Will Hurd, R-Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Susan Brooks, R-Ind., as well as Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich.

Ocasio-Cortez gets new 2020 challenger: a Republican immigrant from Jamaica

Republican Scherie Murray is launching a campaign Wednesday for the New York congressional seat held by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. (Courtesy of Murray campaign)

EXCLUSIVE -- Scherie Murray, a New York businesswoman who immigrated from Jamaica as a child and is active in state Republican politics, is launching a campaign Wednesday for the congressional seat held by Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Fox News has learned.
In a phone interview, Murray, 38, confirmed her intention to run for the New York congressional seat as a Republican.
“There is a crisis in Queens, and it’s called AOC,” Murray told Fox News. “And instead of focusing on us, she’s focusing on being famous. Mainly rolling back progress and authoring the job-killing Green New Deal and killing the Amazon New York deal.”
Murray, who was born in Jamaica and moved to the United States when she was 9, is officially launching her campaign Wednesday with an introductory video that takes sharp jabs at the 29-year-old Ocasio-Cortez.

'There is a crisis in Queens, and it’s called AOC.'
— Scherie Murray

“Your representative in Washington chooses self-promotion over service, conflict over constituents, resistance over assistance," Murray said in the video. "Queens and the Bronx needs someone who will create jobs instead of turning them away."
Asked about Ocasio-Cortez’s brand of Democratic socialism, Murray said, “I think it’s far, far to the left and it is not connecting with everyday Americans.”
As for "Medicare-for-all," which Ocasio-Cortez has embraced, the Republican said: “Medicare-for-all, I think a lot of people are happy with their current health insurance.” And on the Green New Deal, the left-wing proposal to address climate change pushed by Ocasio-Ortez, she said: “We know that it certainly will kill jobs.”
Murray joins four other Republicans who have filed to run for the seat: former police officer John Cummings, medical journalist Ruth Papazian, construction contractor Miguel Hernandez and entrepreneur Antoine Tucker.
No Democrats have yet announced a primary challenge to Ocasio-Cortez, though there's been speculation that establishment Democrats could rally behind a primary challenger. Ocasio-Cortez shocked the political world in 2018 by defeating longtime Rep. Joe Crowley in a Democratic primary.
Whichever Republican candidate emerges from the primary field will face a steep uphill climb in the overwhelmingly Democratic district. But Murray and others are looking to paint Ocasio-Cortez as more of a celebrity than a lawmaker, while stressing their ability to work across party lines.
Murray's new campaign video, which doesn’t mention President Trump or the Republican Party, portrays Murray as a bridge-builder. She is a former state committeewoman of the New York State Republican Party.
Asked during the interview if she considers herself a Trump supporter, she said “yes.” She said she is in the process of talking with national Republicans about her campaign, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, a prominent black Republican in Congress.
She expressed disgust over the recent spat between Trump and Ocasio-Cortez and her allies. Trump has taken heat for telling Ocasio-Cortez and other minority progressives to "go back" to where they came from – provoking accusations from Democrats that Trump's comments are racist.
“I think it’s disgusting, to be quite honest,” Murray said of the controversy, without specifying which part of it disgusts her. “I think we are missing the point of why we’re elected to public office: to legislate on policy, to deliver results to those kitchen table issues that are affecting everyday Americans.”
Murray later clarified her thoughts on the back-and-forth, saying of Trump's tweet, "Is that how I would have worded it? No. Do I think the president is a racist? No." She added, "But I want to get back to the core of why we’re even talking about this – there is a crisis at our border."
Murray, who grew up in Southeast Queens and worked for the city’s Jamaica Bus Depot as a teenager, founded a television production and advertising company called The Esemel Group in 2004. She said her business generated employment for minorities in New York City. She said she no longer works for the company and is now a full-time mother.
The GOP primary will take place in June 2020.
Winning a general election in New York’s 14th congressional district would be a long shot for any Republican: In 2018, Ocasio-Cortez’s GOP opponent, Anthony Pappas, won just 14 percent of the vote.
But Murray still insists a Republican could win – even in a Democratic-controlled district – because of dissatisfaction with Ocasio-Cortez.
“A Republican can win the district,” she said. “There is an absolute path to victory when you look at a general election campaign.”

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Kellyanne Conway says critics employ Hatch Act to 'silence' her support for Trump

Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway responded to critics Monday after formally defying a Hatch Act-related subpoena from the House Oversight Committee.
Her opponents are concerned about her effectiveness at her job and hoped to silence her, Conway said Monday on "Hannity."
"I'm concerned that there's such a weaponization and politicization of this thing called the Hatch Act," she said.
The Hatch Act limits political activity by federal workers. Congress approved the Hatch Act in 1939 to limit partisan activity by federal employees to ensure the government functions fairly and effectively.
The Office of Special Counsel -- separate from the office formerly run by Special Counsel Robert Mueller -- opened two cases focused on allegations Conway violated the Hatch Act by engaging in “both official and political activity” -- during her media appearances and on her Twitter account, @KellyannePolls.
The report stated, "Ms. Conway regularly participated in official media interviews in her capacity as a White House spokesperson to answer reporters’ questions about the Administration. Beginning in February 2019, Ms. Conway, during official media appearances, engaged in a pattern of partisan attacks on several Democratic Party candidates shortly after they announced their candidacy for President,” detailing instances involving Sens. Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren, and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke.
The OSC stated that in one Feb. 19 interview on "Fox & Friends," Conway “insinuated that Senator Booker was ‘sexist’ and a ‘tinny’ ‘motivational speaker,’” and claimed Warren, D-Mass., was “’lying’” about her ethnicity.
Conway said that no matter how heavy the pressure is on her to keep a low profile, she will continue to publicly support the president's policies.
"They're not going to silence me," she said. "They're not going to take away my First Amendment rights."
Conway also “attacked” O’Rourke for not “thinking the women running are good enough to be President.”
Fox News' Brooke Singman contributed to this report

Acting CBP Commissioner: Some critics either misinformed or lying about agency, actions

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are being wrongfully criticized and attacked by misinformed or intentionally misguided people, according to Mark Morgan, the acting CBP commissioner said.
Law enforcement and the intelligence community are likely successfully tracking potential threats against the agency and its infrastructure, Morgan claimed Monday on "The Ingraham Angle."
"It's absolutely dangerous," he said of some of the opposition to the agency's mission of border enforcement.
"I have full confidence that the law enforcement mechanisms and intelligence agencies are watching these groups."
"A lone wolf or violent extremist are very hard to prevent," he said, referring to a 69-year-old Antifa activist shot and killed by Washington state police after attacking an ICE facility in the Evergreen State.
The group Seattle Antifascist Action described assailant Willem Van Spronsen a "good friend and comrade" who "took a stand against the fascist detention center in Tacoma" and "became a martyr who gave his life to the struggle against fascism."
Van Spronsen was armed with a rifle and incendiary devices when he launched his assault on the Northwest Detention Center around 4 a.m. Saturday, according to the Tacoma Police Department. Employees reported he was throwing 'incendiary devices' and setting vehicles on fire and the first officers on the scene said he was wearing a sachet and carrying flares.
In light of van Spronsen's attack, Morgan slammed some of the rhetoric from agency opponents and critics.
"The rhetoric that's out there from our own elected leaders -- they're attacking the men and women of ICE, they're attacking the men and women of CBP," he said.
"It's unjust, it's unfair, it's misinformed, and outright sometimes, they're just lying to the American people and it's undoubtedly fueling this."
Of the comparison between border detention facilities and World War II-era concentration camps, Morgan said the two are completely different.
"In the concentration camps, the Nazis were killing people. Customs and Border Protection are saving lives," he said.
Fox News' Travis Fedschun contributed to this report.

Hannity: 'The radicals are in charge'

Fox News' Sean Hannity focused Monday night on the change within the Democratic Party, declaring once again that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is now the leader and that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is "powerless."
"They are on the verge of an all-out civil war. Nancy Pelosi has lost complete control of her radical socialist base. Freshman Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, Congresswoman Tlaib and Omar and Ayanna Pressley are now running the show," Hannity said on his television show.
"Speaker Pelosi is now totally powerless."
Hannity was reacting to past comments made by the four congresswomen who responded to President Trump's controversial tweets Sunday calling for the progressive congresswomen to "go back" to where they came from.
Trump doubled down Monday calling out the lawmakers for their Anti-American "hate."
Hannity warned that "radicals" within the Democratic Party will use identity politics to attack any that oppose them including other Democrats to "reshape America."
"It does not matter what Speaker Pelosi says, what she does. The radicals who are in charge, anyone who opposes them of course quickly labeled xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist, sexist, and a bigot and want dirty air and water," Hannity told his audience.
"The so-called 'squad' of far left freshmen congresswomen are now using identity politics even against members of their own party. The end goal is to fundamentally reshape America."
The Fox News host also pointed out the influence this "wing" has on the Democratic presidential candidates.
"The base of the Democratic Party is so powerful that every 2020 hopeful has adopted their fringe socialist policies. And if they don't adopt it completely they are trashed by many of the four," Hannity said.
Hannity blasted the four congresswomen for calling for the impeachment of President Trump Monday during a press conference and for their vision of the country.
"They don't want to improve this country. They want to remake this country into something we all know will fail," Hannity said. "They want to impeach the one person that's been standing in their way."
Fox News' Gregg Re contributed to this report.

Extra protection sought for certain lawmakers after Trump's comments about 'squad' (Crying Dems)

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., was seeking extra protection for members of Congress on Monday after President Trump’s tweets and remarks about the progressive “squad.”
Trump’s remarks apparently were directed at four congresswomen: Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. All are American citizens and three of the four were born in the U.S.
Far from backing down, Trump on Monday dug in on comments he had initially made a day earlier on Twitter that if lawmakers “hate our country,” they can go back to their “broken and crime-infested” countries.

The House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., right, is seeking extra protection for members of Congress. The letter is addressed to Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger, left, because, this year, he heads the Capitol Police Board. (Getty, File)

“If you’re not happy in the U.S., if you’re complaining all the time, you can leave, you can leave right now,” he said.
In the letter for House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger, Thompson argued that the Capitol Police Board should meet to “analyze the current threat environment and set thresholds for enhanced safety of Members.”
Thompson asked for a meeting within 48 hours and a classified readout of the meeting.
The letter was addressed to Stenger because he has headed the Capitol Police Board this year.
Thompson said security officials should set “thresholds for enhanced security for certain targeted Members, and evaluate threat streams with law enforcement partners in Member districts. Being proactive in this instance is vital to the safety of not only these targeted Members, but all Members of Congress.”
Fox News has been told that despite Thompson’s pleas, other lawmakers have faced more serious threats than members of the squad ahead of Trump's tweets.

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